To Kill Satan
by Kikwoka
Summary: The battle with The Impure King leaves Rin in an extremely wounded state. But, as he recovers, a small group of the exorcist society are hatching a plan to kill Satan, and Rin is the key component in their strategy - and they don't care whether or not it kills him in the process...
1. Shaitan

_**Author's Musings **__Hi! I'm currently obsessed with this anime, and I have a good idea for a story, here's hoping you guys like it! If you're new to my stories, then welcome to the crazy world of my imagination, I am Kikwoka (also known as Em). So, here we go, time for some crazy Ao no Exorcist time!_

_I watch the anime etc. so I tend to use the honorifics that are used in the show – as such, whenever I use a new one, I'll but a translation in the bottome Author's Musings =)_

_Please enjoy._

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><p>Bon was chanting, his hands clasped together, forming the sacred seals. A flash of brilliant blue flame lit up in front of him as Rin Okumura stabbed a ghoul, his sword, the mighty Kurikara, piercing through its stomach.<p>

"Burn!" Rin cried, blue flames leaping off the metal sword and through into the ghoul. Bon winced at the Ghouls cries as it was incinerated.

He still wasn't used to his friend.

He'd met Rin about three months ago, and Bon had thought that the twin to his teacher was nothing special. A month ago, Rin had revealed his flames to their group in order to save them from an incredibly powerful demon called Amaimon.

Betrayal. Son of _Satan!_

Bon had fumed at the boy – he had been utterly betrayed by the boy who had only just become his friend. The self-sacrificing, I-can-do-it-by-myself,I'll-catch-up-with-you-later demon.

Bon finished his frantically spoken verse and all the ghouls around him vanished: banished to their world on the other side of the mirror. Rin laughed, his tail swinging around him.

"Nice one Suguro!" He laughed before jumping away, advancing on the Impure King. Konekomaru clapped Bon on the back with shaky fingers.

"Okumura-kun's amazing, isn't he?" He muttered in awe at the demon, who was slaying everything around him.

Rin roared, his tail slapping an advancing demon away from him. His sword flung outwards, slashing another.

Bon nodded, beginning his chant again. He was very glad that the Son of Satan hated his father so much – enough to declare that he'd be the one to defeat Satan.

Rin jumped back to the group that consisted of Konekomaru, Bon, Shima, Izumo, Shiemi and his twin, Yukio. He was panting, and crouched on the ground briefly.

"Rin, are you okay?" Shiemi asked, touching him on the shoulder. Rin regarded the clumsy but strong girl in front of him for a moment, then nodded before standing again, "I'm heading off again, Yukio, Izumo, protect Bon, Konekomaru and Shima,"

Konekomaru and Shima smiled and made the sacred seal with their hands, chanting along with Bon.

The forest surrounded the group, and Mountains stood high above them as looming spectres. The ground was burnt, and some trees were still alight with a sapphire flame. Another wave of demons advanced, some flying in from the smoke-filled sky. A far distance off, a crimson shadow could be seen with flames liking hungrily at the sky.

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><p>Rin was in pain: he'd never used his flames so much before, and they were so concentrated on fighting the onslaught of demons, that they couldn't heal the wounds that Rin was gradually picking up.<p>

Although he was physically exhausted, he was mentally invigorated. He had never fought for such a long time, and never with a group of friends to protect him. His body was primed for war, his tail reacted to the slightest movement. He had been told that his tail was the weakest part of a demon's body, but now Rin realised that it was also the most dangerous. His tail destroyed another demon, whipping it at impossible speeds.

This was the best type of training: he suddenly knew how to control his flames. Each flame was like an extension of himself – he could control them all so easily.

A giant goblin bit his arm and Rin cried out before lashing out with his flames. He gasped at the miasma that entered his blood, coughing.

"Rin!" Shiemi screamed, running over, her Green Spirit turning into the plant Aloe, so that she could administer the antidote to the miasma. Rin stood slowly, a black smoke of miasma floating away from him. Blood gushed from his arm.

"I'm alright Shiemi, miasma doesn't affect me," He smiled, grimacing at the pain that shot up his arm. His flames leapt out of the wound, forming a kind of sparkly blue mist that healed the gaping bite marks. He paused briefly as the pain ebbed away.

They were close now, the impure king loomed over them, his miasma was also growing stronger. Konekomaru coughed, miasma entering his lungs.

Yukio turned his head slightly at the sound, his eyes tightening with worry.

"Nii-san, we need to get out of here!" Yukio screamed at his older brother, "The miasma's too strong!"

Rin nodded slightly and returned to the group, surrounding them with his flames. The flames purified the air, making it possible for them to breathe.

"We can't keep this up!" Shima gasped, clutching his sore neck.

"We have to!" Izumo cried, her voice shaking.

Rin looked forlornly at his group of friends, who sat on the floor, rubbing ther various wounds.

"I could go on ahead: the miasma doesn't affect me," Rin suggested

"No!" Bon replied immediately, "There's no way you're running off on your own again!"

"No," Yukio sighed, "It's our best option. Us humans can't go any further,"

Rin winced slightly; he didn't like not being considered a human.

"Sensei! Are we just going to leave Rin to fight that monster on his own?" Bon yelled incredulously. The group nodded with him – they weren't leaving their friend again. Rin stood.

"I need you guys to stop anything bad reaching the temple," he said, "That includes my flames,"

And before anyone could protest, he ran out of the flame shield and left it there for good measure.

"Shit!" Bond screamed, thumping the floor heavily.

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><p>Rin gasped. The miasma was much more potent this close to the impure king.<p>

_Aaah, so this is Satan's ilk, _a voice hissed vehemently in his mind. Rin cried and gripped his head, stumbling slightly as he ran. It was the Impure King contacting him through his mind.

_So what if I am! _Rin snarled back, jumping high using his flames to propel him upward.

Up, up, up, until he was level with the Impure King's snarling face.

His left and right eyes were settled in bubbling sockets that were constantly changing. The legs were hard and decorated with spiky growths that spewed miasma. However, the arms were soft. They kept on growing, and then shrinking again; the bubbles that were filled with a nauseating liquid kept on bursting and forming new bubbles on the arms.

The impure king had not finished forming.

This was Rin's chance.

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><p>Bon, Shima, Izumo, Shiemi, Konekomaru and Yukio watched the flashes of brilliant blue flames that pierced the Impure King, making deadly miasma rain down upon the forest.<p>

Rin was dwarfed by the Impure King and was weakened from the fight out to him. But the Impure King wasn't at 100% either: he was weak from being awakened for the first time in 140 years. Nevertheless, Rin was a mere blue spec in front of the seething mass of blistering flesh that was the Impure King.

The blue spec danced around the Impure King, exploding everything it touched. The Impure King roared, flinging miasma in all directions.

The battle raged for ages; the sun was just beginning to rise when the Impure King crashed to the ground. Rin immediately stabbed his sword into the Impure King's malformed flesh.

The blaze that followed was so bright that it rivalled the rising sun that was just east to where the fight was happening.

But Rin didn't rise out of the rubble like they thought he would.

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><p><em><strong>Author's Musings, <strong>__So I have many plans for this story – yaay! This was just a sort of prologue that will eventually lead to a main story._

_**-kun **__an honorific often used for boys. Semi-polite._

_**Nii-san **__brother._

_**Sensei **__teacher/doctor, can also be an honorific for teachers and doctors, e.g. Okumura-sensei._

_I would usually put review replies here, but I haven't had any 'cause this is the first chapter! =)_

_Thanks for reading and please review/fave/alert =D_


	2. Apollyon

_**Author's Musings **__Hi! I just want to note that the pairings in this story will be faithful to the anime and manga – so very light rinxshiemi and yukioxshiemi. I also won't be adding any 'good' OCs, but there may be a couple of bad OCs._

_Hope you guys enjoy the next chapter =)._

_Thanks for the alerts and faves, and review replies come at the bottom of the chapter =D. Another thing, this is kind of a combination of both the manga and the anime – I like the new things the anime is adding – you know, the way they have to fix Kurikara, and that Konekomaru gets possessed. Also the manga has moved on, so this chapter is no longer in canon ='(_

_Anyway, please enjoy =)_

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><p>Konekomaru pushed some branches out of the way, grunting as his feet slipped slightly in the mud. In front, Bon turned around, calling out to Konekomaru.<p>

"Hurry up! We have to find him quickly!" Bon yelled, holding his lantern up high and illuminating his worried face in a green glow. The fight had finished two hours ago, and they still hadn't found their demon friend. Even though it was thin, the forest's trees stood tall and shut out all sunlight from the forest floor. It was an eerie place; it was still, silent - the animals had hidden away long ago. Besides the trees and plants, there was no life.

Konekomaru winced, thinking of the friend they had let fight the Impure King by himself. Sighing, Konekomaru straightened himself, finding a better foot-hold on the wet ground. Where _was _Rin?

The boy had been weaker than usual when they had sent him to fight, but they had ignored that. Konekomaru sighed – it was because they were so used to Rin's strength. Even before they had found out just what Rin was, Rin had been a pillar of strength that had protected them when they were in trouble.

They had forgotten that Rin was also half-human.

"_Trust me! Jump!"_

Ah yes, Rin had saved him before too. Konekomaru sighed – Rin had always tried to be his friend, but Konekomaru had shot him down claiming that Rin was untrustworthy, that he was scared of Rin.

Never again.

Rain infused with miasma began to fall. Bon cried out in burning pain as the miasma touched his skin. Konekomaru did the same, covering his head with his arms. The forest seemed to moan in pain as the rain touched the tree's already damaged bodies. The rain died down almost as quickly as it had begun; it was as though the sky was restraining itself.

An almighty bang filled the air, and the sky momentarily glowed red.

"Have they found him?" Bon cried, his head turning to the direction of the firework, "We need to go, Konekomaru!"

Konekomaru nodded and they began to run, letting the thin forest unfold in front of them.

_Bang! _Another firework. They weren't far now.

Another onslaught of rain-miasma hit them, but the miasma was weak – nothing like the stuff that the Impure King had produced. Even so, the few trees that hadn't already been consumed by miasma were beginning to wilt under the rain that usually sustained them. All life in the forest had escaped, disappearing from the now poisonous area. Despite it being day time, the sky was dark. The Impure King's miasma had polluted the sky - that was why toxic rain now fell from the blackened clouds.

And then Bon and Konekomaru reached the firework site.

Rin lay on the floor, bloody and weak. His usually active tail lay limp by his side, and his eyes were closed. Yukio was by his side, calling out desperately to his brother.

"Nii-san!" He screamed, "Wake up!"

Bon walked slowly to where the half-demon had fallen. He lay on his side, a gaping wound exposed just underneath his shoulder blade. As Bon approached, he could hear Rin's wheezy breathing and he could see the broken ribs in the wound that was weeping so much crimson liquid. There was a long gash down the side of Rin's face that extended to the nape of his neck. Blood also gushed from this wound, the flow pulsing with the beat of Rin's weakening heart.

Panting from behind Bon. Shiemi and Shima.

"Rin!" Shiemi shrieked as she saw the boy's condition, "No, no, no, no, Rin!"

"Damn, that doesn't look good," Shima cried, standing behind Shiemi and placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. Shima seemed so worried about Rin that he didn't make one lecherous remark.

Shiemi's hands fluttered around Rin, as she looked at all the wounds, "Nii-san" she called, her demon familiar jumping off her shoulder.

"Wait! Shiemi!" Yukio ordered, "We don't know what to use – he's a demon!"

Shiemi gasped and paused before placing a hand on Rin's neck wound, trying to staunch the flow of blood. Yukio did the same on the wound on Rin's back.

"It's no use!" He cursed as the blood bubbled up from beneath his fingers. Taking out a knife, he cut off his elder twin's shirt. Shiemi covered her mouth as a gasp escaped her lips.

There were boils rising on Rin's skin. It was obviously an infection from the Impure King's miasma.

"I thought he was immune to it…" Konekomaru whispered, horror creeping into his voice.

"He was. At least, he was immune to the stuff that affected us," Yukio cursed, "But this must be at least a hundred times stronger than the miasma we were dealing with!"

As if to prove a point, the miasma in the rain weakened even further – now it was only a mild stinging. Yukio narrowed his eyes, looking at a strangely shaped lump on his brother's skin. It was a thorn, he realised.

"Shiemi, I need some Aloe Vera," He said, not looking at Shiemi. He grabbed the thorn and took a deep breath. This was going to hurt Rin a lot.

Exhaling quickly, Yukio pulled the thorn out with extreme care but sharply non the less – luckily the thorn wasn't barbed. Rin let out a little huff of air but otherwise didn't react.

That was worrying.

Feeling his brother's burning temperature, Yukio cursed. The younger twin put two fingers on his brother's neck, swearing as he did – the pulse was too irregular and too fast.

"I think he's pierced his lung," Yukio whispered.

"What?" Konekomaru exclaimed. He had been standing behind them, but now he ran up and knelt beside Rin, biting his lip with worry.

"Hellooo!" Came an ever so slightly jokey voice from above the group. Mephisto Pheles floated down, his purple hair blowing slightly in the wind as he went. He examined Rin with a scathing yellow eye before taking out an injection needle from within his cloak.

"Wha-" Was all Yukio could say as Mephisto jabbed the needle into Rin's neck. Mephisto's usually confident, smiling mouth was set in a frowning line.

"You should leave curing him to me," Merphisto sighed, "I am very good at curing demons,"

"Why are you, sir?" Bon couldn't help but ask. In the dull light of the bleak sky, Mephisto eyed Bon with sceptical, narrow eyes.

"Why, you ask?" Mephisto laughed, swinging his arms around him in exuberance, "Why, because I am a demon myself," his voice was growing dark and sinister, "Perhaps you'd be better off asking me no more, eh?"

Bon gulped slightly, taking a step away from Mephisto.

All of a sudden, blue flames erupted around Rin, engulfing him in a swirling inferno. Yukio, Shiemi, Bon, Shima and Konekomaru immediately jumped backwards, but the flames dissipated almost immediately.

"None left, eh little brother?" Mephisto sighed quietly to himself. The others were so focused on Rin that they didn't notice Mephisto's remark.

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><p>"At any rate, we have to get him inside – this rain cannot possibly help him," Yukio sighed. Bon nodded and came over to help Yukio carry the unconscious boy.<p>

Rin was too hot. His insides were writhing and crawling in pain. There was a weight on his chest; a piercing, heavy, restraining load.

As he gasped for breath, Rin realised something: he couldn't feel his flames.

Ever since he had first unsheathed the Kurikara, he had always had a slight sense of the warmth of the flames within him. But now, the pocket of lively fire within him was empty. Why?

His mind was fuzzy, his thoughts muddled.

What had he been doing?

Why was he in such pain?

He heaved in yet another agonising breath, his chest rattling as he did so.

It was dark. Too dark. Suffocating darkness surrounded him, choking him with its silent claws. Where was he? He breathed in once more, feeling the pressure on his chest tighten.

Something moved him, and suddenly the burden on his torso weakened. He took advantage of the lightness and gasped in grateful, free breaths. His heart beat furiously inside his chest, to him it was deafening; it rang throughout his body. It was vital… strong.

_Thump… thump… thump…_

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><p>Bon sat on the chair next to Okumura's bed – it was his turn to watch over the comatose half-demon. It had already been three days since the battle but Rin wasn't any better than he had been. His lung had indeed been pierced, and he'd had to have surgery to try and re-inflate his collapsed lung. The operation had been a success, but that didn't mean that Rin was in no more danger – the boy was currently being fed oxygen through a mask that was fixed carefully onto his face. The boy was sweaty from three days' worth of writhing in the bed in pain - his navy blue hair was stuck to his forehead with sweat.<p>

Rin's tail swished out from under the duvet, its fluffy tip flipping up and down gently. The aria-in-training eyed it warily from behind his copy of the Holy Bible. Sighing slightly as the tail's movements grew more exaggerated, Bon put the holy book on the table next to him and folded his arms.

He couldn't help but smile at the funny motions of the tail; it seemed to have a mind of its own. In the battle, Bon had seen it stabbing through the torsos of enemy demons, however, so he couldn't relax with it moving around like that. The tail swung around the place for a couple of minutes before going completely limp.

Rin winced and coughed under the mask.

"Shit!" Bon swore, quickly slipping his arm under his friend's neck and lifting him up slowly, supporting Rin's back with one hand and patting it softly with the other. The blue-haired boy gasped in deep, laborious breaths, his eyes clenched shut in pain. Gradually, Rin's breathing evened out and he relaxed. Sighing softly, Rin shifted a little in Bon's arms. Gently, carefully, Bon laid Rin back on the bed, relief at having calmed Rin down swimming through him.

"Sheesh," Bon groaned, "You really know how to make people worry,"

Bon folded his hands together in his lap and slouched on the chair, his head lolling backwards in relief.

"Suguro-kun, how is Nii-san?" Yukio asked, coming in and drawing up a chair.

"He's just had a coughing fit but I think he's okay now," Bon answered, disguising his worry with nonchalant tones. Yukio nodded silently and lifted up his brother's t-shirt, looking at the bandages. With the help of Bon, he shifted his brother onto his side carefully and looked in dismay at the bandages on Rin's back.

"This wound doesn't seem to want to heal," Yukio murmured to himself as he examined the blood-stained bandages. The hole in his brother's back was the most serious of his injuries simply because of its reluctance to heal; there was a very good chance that it would get infected, and if that happened, Rin would most likely die.

Yukio's hand moved to his twin's injury. When he pressed the sore spot on Rin's back, the half-demon's tail whipped the younger twin's hand.

"That… hurt…" Came Rin's tired, muffled voice.

"Nii-san!" Yukio smiled, his voice loud with happiness that his brother was finally awake. Bon and Yukio helped the injured exorcist onto his back so that he could stare at them with pain-glazed orbs.

"Is…everyone…okay?" Rin panted slowly, his voice sounding tired. Yukio nodded, but didn't elaborate.

"A couple of bruises around, and Izumo broke her leg but no one has injuries as serious as yours," Bon replied grumpily – he was annoyed that the half-demon had once again risked his life without relying on anyone else.

Rin nodded slowly, wincing as the laceration on his neck jarred. His eyes were so heavy, and the pain so numbing – he could barely stay awake.

Yukio put a cool hand on the feverish boy's brow. Rin closed his eyes under it, relishing in the coldness. Despite trying his best to hold in his pain, Rin still whimpered softly at the pain that coursed through him.

"Sleep, nii-san," Yukio soothed, rubbing his brother's forehead.

Rin seemed to protest for a few moments, his tail flapping the air in frustration, but then he lost the battle against is tiredness and slipped into a dreamless sleep.

Bon and Yukio exchanged worried looks: obviously Rin was not fine just yet.

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><p><em><strong>Author's Musings: <strong>__Bonjour! Hope you enjoyed that – it was very fun for me to write – I loove whump ;)_

_Review time =D!_

_**SamVilRico – **__Thank you! I don't like just writing one-shots, so yes, I hope it's going to be the real deal. There is a slight reason why I was vague – especially when Rin was fighting the Impure King, but you're going to have to find out why later =P_

_**epicazain – **__I think your review is tasty (mmmm), I don't know about a pairing – maybe Rin and Shiemi, or Yukio and Shiemi, or even Rin and Izumo (I don't know why but I quite like the sound of that one) As I mentioned in the top Author's Musings, I'll generally follow the pair-scheme of the show._

_**howlingwingofthestorm – **__Thank you sehr muchlies for the kind words =). Hope this chapter is good enough for you =D_

_**4I2 – **__Thank you! I really hope you do keep tabs on this story – it's really nice to have regular readers =)_

_**Exxal – **__Thanks so much! I hope this chapter is to your satisfaction =D_

_**Criket the Huntress – **__Really? That's so awesome, thanks! Here, an update – enjoy. Thanks for the fave too – it means a lot._

_**Ianian58 – **__Yes Sir/Ma'am! *salutes* _

_**Harttanna – **__I'm glad you do – thanks so much!_

_**bluelove22 - **__ OMG! Thank you so much! XD Hope this has satiated your thrist for updates =)_

_**FullmetalFan16 – **__Here you go! Thanks ever so much for the review -) (one eyed smiley!)_

_**Kyuubiluver – **__Thank you – it honestly means so much for you to 'say' that =)_

_**Wooow! 11 reviews for one chapter? =O Thank you soooo much peoples for the reviews, faves and alerts – it means a lot to me!**_

_**Thanks, Kikwoka x**_


	3. Mara

_**Author's Musings: **__Finally, some time to myself -_-'_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Ao no Exorcist or One Piece_

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><p>Rin groaned and rolled over in the hard, itchy hospital bed. He cried out slightly as the movement jarred his numerous wounds. The fever was burning, the wounds were screaming.<p>

Shima was fussing over Rin immediately, "Hey! You all right, Rin?" he asked, his voice frantic with worry. Rin nodded weakly, opening his pain-glazed eyes. His tired eyes begged for the agony-free bliss of sleep, but the throbbing wounds in his side disagreed and kept Rin from drifting into the oblivion of unconsciousness. His wounds tortured him: too painful to sleep, but not painful enough to render him senseless.

Blacky mewed and snuggled under his arm, reminding Rin of softness – something he had forgotten in his new, aching, throbbing world. Rin's hand slid up and down the cat sith's lithe body absently. Blacky let out an appreciative purr before curling up next to Rin, the cat's two tails resting on Rin's chest as it rose and fell softly.

It had already been a week since the epic battle with the Impure King and Rin's condition was slowly improving. He now woke up most days – mostly for less than an hour, but his waking hours were gradually getting longer. The infection and subsequent fever from the Impure King's miasma was steadily working its way out of Rin's system. The long laceration down Rin's neck was healing at a snail's pace and his lung was no better, however, meaning that Rin's flames had not yet fully recovered.

Rin gazed blearily at Shima before smiling wearily at him from under the oxygen mask. Shima smiled back, shaking his pink head slightly as the worry retreated to the depths of his mind. There it stayed as a constant, but quiet, nagging at the back of his mind. Shima ran a hand through his hair, watching Rin carefully for a while before picking up his manga and resuming reading.

"What's happening this week?" Rin wheezed, exhausted. One eyelid was drooping ever so slightly, showing Rin's drained mental state.

"Hmmm," Shima frowned, flicking through a couple of pages, "I think it's the beginning of the battle with the Straw Hats and the Fishmen – Luffy's looking pretty awesome," Shima laughed, turning the book round so Rin could see for himself what was happening on the page.

Rin tried to laugh, but ended up coughing instead. Blacky startled and jumped off the bed, crying out in worried tones that resounded in Rin's head. Rin continued to cough, his entire frame heaving at the chocking that wracked his entire body. Shima gasped, his manga falling to the floor as he rushed to help his friend.

Slipping an arm under Rin's tense neck, Shima gently pulled Rin up, letting him breathe easier. Swapping arms, Shima patted Rin's back, carefully avoiding the hole under the boy's shoulder blade. The entire class took turns watching over Rin, and had all been taught basic first aid by Yukio. This meant that even if Yukio wasn't around – like now – his older twin could still be treated if there was a problem.

"Thanks" Rin gasped after the coughing had subsided, squeezing his eyes shut against the pain that spread outwards from his chest. His heart beat furiously as he sucked in agonizing breaths.

_Rin… _Blacky murmured worriedly into his mind, his twin tails flapping aroung restlessly as he jumped back onto the bed.

Rin looked into the cat's eyes, calming it down. "I'm… fine," He told the cat sternly as soon as he was able to.

Shima eyed the demon feline warily, slightly freaked at hard evidence of Rin's own demon nature; Rin had definitely understood the cat's soft, worried mews just now. Shima picked the manga up off the floor and deposited it on Rin's table, before looking around the bleak, private hospital ward.

He thought of the other injured exorcists for a moment: Izumo-chan lying on the floor, her leg completely crippled; Shura gasping for breath as she shielded Bon from the deadly black rain.

Shima's slight smile dimmed at the thought: She was in the room next to them fighting off a serious miasma infection that had entered through her mouth and nose, choking her of precious air. She was in a drug-induced coma and it still wasn't certain that she would ever wake up again.

Rin gave Shima a questioning look but didn't have the energy to ask what was going on. His eyes were growing so heavy – the pain was dimming and the sleep was catching up on him. He fixed a careful grin on his face, feeling the mask shift slightly on his face.

"Tell…me…how the Straw…Hats…fare…" Rin ordered tiredly, his eyelids becoming heavier and heavier. From behind half-closed lids he saw Shima's expression shift from worry over to surprise and then kindness and warmth.

"Sure, I'll tell you about the cute girls in the other mangas in Jump too," He promised with a lecherous smirk.

"Awe…some…man," Rin sighed, his voice trailing off into nothingness. He stopped fighting against the river of exhaustion that was dragging him down into darkness and let himself slip and slide into nothingness.

Shima watched Satan's son drift off to sleep with extreme anxiety. With a resigned sigh, Shima picked up the discarded Shounen Jump, found his page and began reading once more.

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><p>Far away, a ritual was taking place.<p>

_Shaitan._

Murmured voices whispered from outside the stone, dark, fire-lit room. The orange glow barely lit up the hexagonal ritual chamber, showing six shadowy pillars that loomed in the six corners of the hall. Six rows of ebony-black pews sloped to the middle of the room, where a small hexagonal flat spanned. There was a smaller altar in the middle of this chamber that was carved with the many different names of satan;

_Apollyon._

A hushed murmuring appeared from behind the six different archways that lead into the hall from dark corridors. It was from these entrances that the one-hundred-and-ninety-two tenants of the sacred creed, the sacred creed to which the dark room belonged. Their long, black cloaks swayed softly as they marched in organised lines into their 'church. The tenants filled the six rows of pews and stood in silence, their hooded heads bowed in reverent quiet.

_Mara._

The leader of the one-hundred-and-ninety-one others stepped out and headed for the altar. He was set apart by his crimson-red cloak that identified him as the leader of this cult that now sat in the, thirty-six in total, pews that surrounded the stone altar.

_Set._

The leader rose his arms, his cloak hanging loosely from his raised arms. The room held its breath as the leader spoke,

"We are not here by chance…" He declared, his voice reciting the creed he knew so well without so much as a stutter.

"We are bound by fate to Satan," The others finished, the one-hundred-and-ninety-one finished in unison, their heads bowed in solemn worship.

_Angra Mainu_

"The deaths that we have faced…" The leader continued, letting his arms fall. His hood concealed his face, but his voice betrayed a sadness that was deeper than words or feelings.

"…Shall make us stronger to combat the blue flame," They mumbled as one, the sadness in their voices echoing the leader's.

_Kroni_

"If he hides beyond the mirror…" The captain announced, his hand coming down as a hard fist on the altar.

"We shall drag him out!" They yelled, raising their fists as one in anger. The chamber was abruptly filled with a clamour of noise as the one-hundred-and-ninety-two tenants stood, their rage overflowing.

_Beelzebub_

"If he calls his minions of Gehena to fight us…" The captain bellowed, his rough voice echoing through the hexagonal hall.

"We will destroy them first!" They exclaimed, shaking the fists in the air, their mouths moving as one.

_Azazel_

"And when he is all alone in Assiah…" The leader screamed, tones of finality ringing in his voice.

"We shall make him beg for mercy and forgiveness!" They replied, the uproar they were causing shaking the floor beneath them.

"And we shall give him none!" The master concluded. The others repeated the words, finally quelling their rage and sitting back on the pews.

_Devil_

The leader's cruel face was lit up for a brief moment as a lantern spluttered in the draughty hallway. The outline of a scar and a savage sneer were visible fleetingly, before they too dissolved into darkness.

"Yes," He muttered, "We shall use _him,"_

_Satan._

* * *

><p>When Izumo hobbled into Rin's quiet hospital room, Shima was once again reading his copy of the weekly Shounen Jump. At the soft <em>click<em> of her crutches, he leaped up to help her into the room and brought her a chair.

"Ah," He grinned with the chair in his hand, "I knew you couldn't resist me,"

Izumo groaned, her cheeks glowing slightly red as she whacked Shima over the head with her crutch. "Hentai," She muttered.

"Ouch!" Shima groaned, rubbing his pink head. Izumo sat down, minding her leg that was plastered in a large white cast. She dropped the crutches on the floor and leaned back in the chair, exhausted. Shima watched sadly and then sat in his own chair.

Izumo leant forwards, placing a cool hand on Rin's sweltering brow. She closed her eyes and listened to Rin's wheezy breathing for a moment before relaxing.

"How is he?" She asked, not taking her eyes away from the navy-blue haired's face.

Shima frowned, "His condition is a little better, but it seems like he's going to be like this for a while,"

Izumo said nothing.

"There may even be a couple of wounds that we don't know about. His ribs for example, Okumura-sensei's been too worried about the lung's condition and hasn't wanted to disturb his ribs very much." Shima continued, his eyes on the plastic floor below him. His eyes were sad: he and Bon had taken the most shifts with Rin – they had the most free time after all.

Throughout the week, Shima had seen Rin in so much pain and in so much agony that it had been almost too much to bear.

"_Trying not to involve myself with you would've been too troublesome. I give up!"_

"…_That's right, give it right up. It's no use anyway,"_

Shima sighed.

**CRASH!**

The windows abruptly smashed, flinging glass around the room.

A dark spectre appeared through the debris, a phantom hand materializing from the glassy fog.

"_Give me… Satan's son!"_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Musings: <strong>__Sorry for the long wait! I've literally had practically no time to myself over the last couple of weeks as I've just started a new year a school and am getting bucket-loads of homework! D:_

_Brief notes: The Straw Hats reference is to One Piece - don't worry if you don't understand it. Shounen Jump is a weekly 'magazine' with many of the most popular mangas, including Naruto, Bleach and One Piece. Hentai means "Pervert"_

_The Italicised names were different names of satan =). 192 is also 6x6x6 (hee hee)_

_Sorry, can't review reply this time – got lots of things I have to do -_-'_


	4. Set

Darkness. It surrounded him, enveloping him in suffocating blackness. He was alone, separated from everywhere and everything. There was nothing. There was only him and the deep, unending void.

But then he felt it, a growing heat in his chest, a deafening sound in his ears. The heat intensified, the sound grew louder. Too much! Too hot! Too loud!

Pain coursing through him in disjointed aches. Sound growing louder, making his eardrums pulse with sound.

It was a high-pitched sound, a kind of keening that was echoing within him.

There was sadness in the sound.

It was ringing with desperate, fearful tones. _I know this voice, _Whispered something at the depths of his mind, _I've heard it before. _The pain swelled, making him lose track of the sound for a moment. He wanted to go back to unfeeling oblivion, but the sound had caught his attention. His ears listened while his mind tried to shy away from the pain, and he soon realised that it was not just one sustained voice.

It was many many voices, all crying out, all screaming, begging for something.

"RIN!" His name among the screams of thousands. Just one person was screaming at him, but it was enough to rouse him.

Now Rin's eyes tried to open, tried to address just what it was that was causing him so much agony. But all he could see was a midnight blue sky, a sky just a few shades darker than his beautiful flames.

* * *

><p>"RIN!" Screamed Shiemi as she saw the creature pull him out of the large hospital building. She had been outside when it had materialised, dust and darkness and hate clumping together to form an abomination. A figure stood at the monster's shoulder, barely a spec upon the giant's bulk.<p>

Shiemi had been on her way to alleviate Shima's duty, but the _thing_ had made it to the hospital before her. She could only watch in horror as it seized Rin, crushing his torso and dragging hospital machinery out with him.

"Nii-chan!" she shrieked, her Green-man familiar jumping up, "Give me Eely-Beely!"

"Nii, nii!" cried the Green-Man, spouting a harsh bramble from his stomach. It pierced the giant, skewering it.

But the giant was not made of flesh and of blood. The giant was made of earth and stone and rock. The bramble worked its way around the vile thing, digging in its brambles and stopping the giant's movements. The Giant was paused for a moment, its misshapen head looking at the brambles in confusion. As Shiemi watched, the giant bulged and stretched, its bulk bursting through the vines with ease.

The figure turned its cloaked head in surprise and anger, "Satan's son is mine!" he hissed, raising a hand shrouded in darkness.

"No…one owns…me!" Rin gasped, trying to push himself from hand's iron grip. His arms flailed, his burning lungs unable to keep up with him.

The figure stared at him, before raising a hand,

"He is not ready, master," the man whispered, his eyes afraid all of a sudden. He clutched the side of his head, whimpering and cringing as some unknown foe attacked him from within. The dark thing he stood on swayed slightly: with its master distracted it could hardly hold its form any longer.

"…Very well, my master," The cloaked figure sighed after a long pause, and lowered his arm slowly. The creature disappeared into dust, fading away and back into Gehenna. The cloaked figure hung in the air briefly, holding Rin almost gently as the boy slumped with exhaustion.

"RIN!" Shiemi screamed, her voice cracking with worry, "Give him back, you monster!"

The man nodded, before floating serenely through the hospital's broken wall, and placing Rin tenderly on the floor. Shima gaped at the man, before rushing to Rin's side and crouching beside him protectively. Rin breathed in tense breaths, the lung causing a raging hot rush of heat on his brow.

Shima placed a clammy hand on the forehead and winced as Rin whimpered at the difference in temperature. Izumo grit her teeth, also limping over to Rin's side,

"Leave. Now." She ordered fiercely, addressing the cloaked figure, her eyes becoming slits. _Why are you so worked up? _Teased a voice at the back of her head, _It's just the idiot!_

The veiled man cocked his head slightly, "Our creed has the direst need of this boy." He stated, turning his back, "We will most certainly be back."

"Don't be back!" Izumo spat, fuming, "We will kill you if you do!"

The man said nothing and stepped forward, away from Izumo, Shima and Rin, and towards the hole in the wall. After some uttered magic, the man melted into air – disappearing without a trace.

* * *

><p>"We have to move him." Shima whispered hurriedly, placing a hand on Rin's fevered brow once more.<p>

"Rin!" Shiemi gasped, slamming open the sliding door into the hospital room. Her eyes scanned the room, surveying the surroundings; Rin lying still on the tiled floor, Shima knelt on the floor next to him and Izumo stood awkwardly beside Shima, leaning heavily on her crutches. There were scattered cables and wires about the place, and the jagged hole in the wall steadily made things colder and colder. The bed that Rin had once lay safely on was scattered on the floor below the hospital room that was three stories up, machinery peppered the ruined bed.

Rin groaned, opening his eyes and forming slits, "Why… am I on the floor..?" he asked, his voice quiet, as though spoken from far away.

"Shh," Shima replied, patting Satan's son's forehead softly. There was no need to stress Rin out even further.

* * *

><p>Rin sighed softly, revelling in the comfy confines of his own bed in his own dorm. It was about time he moved out of the cold hospital anyway; there was nothing new they could give him. He was sat up, reading an old version of the Shounen Jump magazine – one of Shima's. Bon was memorizing verses from the bible in a chair next to him. Rin eyed him warily: he wanted to go to sleep and to rest, but it felt mean to ask. After all, Bon had spent a long time 'babysitting' him over the past two weeks, even missing a class or two from school.<p>

Bon caught him staring and raised an eyebrow.

Rin shook his head, his tail swishing up and down, "Where's Shura?" He asked, "I'd have thought she'd have popped her annoying head in here by now. I haven't done any training in ages after all,"

Bon's eye twitched slightly, his eyes drifting away from Rin's face, "She… got hit pretty badly…" He muttered softly, _It was my fault._

Rin's face contorted slightly as he heard, "Then… is she..?" He asked, his voice coming our as a pitiful whimper.

Bon shook his head, "She's in a coma with a dreadful infection. Knowing her, though, she'll be just fine and back to annoy us to death in lessons at school," A small smile appeared on Bon's face.

Rin laughed slightly. Oh, no, wait, that was a bad move – his lung now _really _hurt. He couldn't hold back the slight moan that escaped his lips, and his eyes squeezed shut in pain. Bon was by his side within a second, his mouth set in a determined line. Lowering Rin onto his back, Bon tutted, "Man, if you were in pain, you should have just told me,"

"Sorry," Rin answered immediately – since when had the words become so natural? Was it because he constantly had to rely on others?

Never mind, sleep was more important.

"Sheesh," Bon groaned as blue-haired boy's breathing grew more and more slow with the presence of sleep.

Bon's amused face faded and all that was left was guilt; dirty, malignant guilt

* * *

><p>"<em>Come on guys! We can't falter now!" Screamed Shura, her voice so strong despite the miasma in the air, "Come on!"<em>

_Bon gasped in a deep breath in the gap between his chanting, he was tired – so very, very tired._

"_Bon! We can't break here! Rin's giving it his all – so must we!" She bellowed, her point accentuated by a flash of iridescent light followed by a fiery bang. The Impure King roared, while Bon's face contorted in anger._

"_Just let us have a little break! Surely we've earned tha-"_

_A wave of heavy miasma cut off his words, he heard a shriek of "Baka!", felt a blast of something cold wash him off his feet and then nothing._

_Gasping. Someone was in pain next to him._

"_How long're ya gonna sleep, Suguro?" panted that person. Her voice was angry but gentle at the same time. Ah, Shura. She always yelled at them like she was annoyed, but they could all tell that she really cared. He couldn't let her down – not when she'd put so much trust in him to free Okumura._

_Sighing in frustration, Bon wrenched his eyes open, and all other sounds faded away. The sounds of battle and of worry and of pain faded into the deep recesses of his mind, and all he could see was Shura._

_She was kneeling in front of him as a shield. She was facing him with her eyes glazed over in pain, "Huh," She wheezed, her body smoking because of the miasma, "So… this… is… what it… f-feels like,"_

_And just like that, her eyes drifted closed and her body pitched forwards._

"_S-SENSEII!"_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Musings: <strong>__Hi guys, you probably don't want to hear from me after this long hiatus, right?_

_Tough! I feel like musing, so that's what I'll do . So you may have noticed that I changed the names of the previous chapters, that's very observant of you – well done! But that's not the point – basically the names of the chapter are different names for the devil – yes, I am sad enough to actually research names of the devil just for this story._

_So the hiatus was because of my inability to really get this chapter flowing – usually I'm alright, but for some reason, I got a temporary writer's block :S._

_Okay, next thing's first: Review Replies :D_

_**Chapter2**_

_**NarutoUzumaki72: **__Thank you so much! Yeah, I love it when the main character gets injured too – and for some reason, there aren't very many of those on here. So I went and decided to write my own to satisfy some of my whump needs :D_

_**Orannis4: **__Thank you for the kind words! I hope that more Ao no Exorcist stories pop up – the Ao no Excocist page is lonely as it is _

_**xxSweet Memory: **__You'll just have to find out if Amaimon comes up (hahah! Skillful answer seeing as I actually haven't thought about it)_

_**Hartanna: **__I just meant the lack of flames thing as him kind of… overusing them a little, but the fact is going to have a slight significance – maybe it's not as transparent as it seems :O_

_**MissSexyRin: **__*Huggles Rin gently too* (Yaay! I joined in on the hug!)_

_**hollhermosa: **__Thank you soooooo much for the really kind words! Ah. I haven't killed you because of the delay…right?_

_**FullmetalFan16: **__Join the club hun – whump is definitely my favourite (OMG! That is absolutely epic :s0)_

_**arligoesrawr: **__Thank you very much!_

_**Chapter 3**_

_**Animelover (**__x2__**) :**__ Thank you so much! It's really nice to know that my efforts are appreciated _

_**{ }: **__(OMG, you don't have a name :O) Thank you soooooo much – that is really, really kind of you to say _

_**Kuroi Yuki 13: **__Ahhahahaha! Yes, someone is gasping at my cliffie :D_

_**Haine1992: **__Thank you very much I really enjoy ending on cliff hangers – it's sooooo fun!_

_**secrethearts: **__Ooh! A special list where stories are saved :O I so wanna be on it ^_^. Okay, I shall try to update more often ^_^_

_**A Natsume Yuujinchou Lover: **__Hi! (I love Natsume Yuujinchou too – isn't the most recent series shaping up to be really quite epic?) I'm glad my summary caught your attention –and you're right, most of the Ao no Excorcist stories seem to be just one-shots or weird pairings (What's with BonRin? wouldn't that be Ron too? lol) Phew, I'm glad you didn't close the tab , I'll try to keep the suspense up for the rest of the story – I had to do some serious scene setting is all. Thank you for the very very kind words _

_**PeachTeaKT: **__Thank you – I hope I can keep it nice for you ^_^_

_**MissSexyRain: **__* stops huggling Rin* well done with the names – I tried to go for obscure ones, but I guess "Lucifer" was a bit easy, and I'd heard of Beelzebub before too ^_^_

_**to-lazy-to-log-in: **__Haha, love the name ^_^ Thank you for the awesome compliment too ^_^_

_**Sayuri Yori: **__I'm sorry! I didn't update very quickly :O_

_**Hartanna: **__eep! Sorry! *Punches phantom and phantom dissolves* there you go ^_^: _

_**LaMindy**__: Thank you very much for the kind words ^_^_


	5. Angra Mainu

Shiemi's gaze drifted around the room until she finally fixed it upon Rin. Yukio paused slightly in his lesson as he saw his pupil's concentration lapse.

"Shiemi?" He called softly, watching the blonde's green eyes pull themselves back into focus. She gasped,

"Ah! Yuki-chan, sorry!"

Yukio winced slightly at the title she gave him, but said nothing. "Want to play shogi, Shiemi-san?" He asked kindly, intentionally moving to a side of the table that best allowed Shiemi to sneakily look at the sleeping Rin.

Shiemi smiled and nodded, noting Yukio's sly movement and being glad of it. Rin had got a lot worse since the incident with the Blood Golem (a puppet made from shadow, blood and earth). It seemed that the monster had disturbed the fragile ribs and wounds that plagued the half-demon's body.

Worse still, the contact with a being of Gehenna had caused the infection of miasma from the Impure to spring back with full force. The black welts now covered the tender areas of skin – specifically, the laceration on the boy's face, and the hole under his collar bone.

Yukio stood and walked off to get the shogi board, while Shiemi used this opportunity to crawl over to Rin and examine his wounds. His face was strained, the wound on his cheek an angry red. She brushed a cool hand over his burning brow, her face setting into sad lines.

_As if there wasn't anything strange about it!_

She cringed internally at her words. The words that she herself had spoken– she could act as high and mighty as she wanted, believing that she was a best friend of Rin. But she wasn't. She had turned her back on him at the same time as everyone else. She was no better.

Rin hissed in his sleep and rolled over, displacing the blanket that had lain over him, and causing it to fall on the floor in a lump.

Grasping with her gentle hands, she flicked the blanket so it blew out and lay over his body. She smiled at him, letting her hand rest on his shoulder for a moment before shifting it over to his head. She brushed his fringe out of his eyes smiling as he relaxed under her cool grip.

For a moment she heard Yukio, and turned, expecting to see him at the door.

But the door was empty, nothing left but a stray shogi tile. Her eyebrows came together in puzzlement – why would he run away?

* * *

><p>Yukio hid, sliding down the plaster wall until he was sitting with his knees pulled close to him. The Shogi set was piled against his chest too, but he hadn't noticed the missing tile – a sign in itself that he was bothered.<p>

He was jealous.

He hated it, but it was true – Shiemi and Rin seemed to get on really well, despite not having known each other for even half the time that Yukio and Shiemi shared. Resentment for his brother boiled up underneath his skin. No matter how many times he tried to bat it down, it never happened. Yukio still loved his twin, but it was hard when said twin seemed intent on stealing everything from him.

His father had been destroyed because of Rin, Yukio knew this because of the moans that came with Rin's nightmares. Their father had been strong, there was no way that he would have been taken by Satan under normal circumstances. Yukio knew nothing of the pain that his father had felt due to Satan's control, but from the state of the body – burnt, tortured limbs – it must have been bad. So not only had Rin killed the only person who had meant anything to either of them, but he had effectively tortured their father.

Now it was Shiemi, the person that he loved – there was no denying the fact that she was the one that he loved. The tingle of joy that he felt every time she smiled at him, the slight pang of jealousy when she shared that joyful smile with others. The way she said his name.

A lovesick sigh was drawn from him, rising from his lungs and into the air beyond him. Shiemi was perfect – she was beautiful, thoughtful, lovely…

The resentment boiled up once more, centring over his eyes. With tense hands, Yukio scrambled at his forehead, hoping to erase the boiling pain.

"Rin!" Shiemi cried from the next room, worry in her voice.

Yukio's eyes widened, and he fought to compose himself. He stood abruptly, worry replacing the red-hot jealousy that had consumed him.

"Shiemi! What's wro-" He cried, as he rounded the doorway.

Rin lay on the floor, deep in the grips of a nightmare that caused convulsions to wrack through him.

"Nii-san!" Yukio cried, rushing over and restraining his flailing limbs. His eyes were half open, showing the whites of his eyes.

_This boy is interesting _mused an old sounding voice that rumbled from the depths of the Earth. Rin quivered slightly, opening his eyes fully and showing eyes that glowed with the blue flames of Satan. Shiemi gasped in fear.

_Do not quake so, puny child _the voice rumbled irritably _You'll end up annoying me._

Shiemi squeaked slightly but promptly sat still. She was restraining the half-demon's legs as well, trying her hardest to stop the boy from hurting himself.

A spectral form emerged from the ground, swathed in ghostly robes that swung around him. A hand materialised from the figure and touched the writing boy's face. Rin stopped moving completely.

_There, that should allow him to become fit for my master, _the voice uttered. It was a voice that sounded as old as the Earth, and seemed to emanate wisdom and cruelty.

"What did you do to my brother?!" Growled Yukio dangerously, fingering the pistol that lay in its holster on his waist.

The figure seemed to pause, and turned his way (or at least he _thought_ it did, though it was hard to tell with its lack of eyes)

_Surely a boy of your intelligence knows that nothing will happen if you shoot that bullet _it whispered, gusts of wind blowing around the figure, shifting its form and growing it.

"You never know…" muttered Yukio, gripping onto the gun. He glanced at Rin, who was unnaturally still.

_Interesting_

The figure rose taller and stepped towards Yukio, reaching out with its spectral hand. Yukio clenched his teeth and took a step back, raising the gun higher. The figure rose its foot, and seemed to consider something.

It kicked Shiemi in the chest. She flew backwards, hit by an imaginary force, and smashed into the wall behind.

Yukio gasped, "SHIEMI!" he screamed, starting to rush over. The phantom rounded him off, shifting in front of Yukio – obstructing the path to Shiemi.

"You're just a ghost!" Yukio frowned, running through the creature.

Pain exploded through every inch of him, circulating through his blood with every heartbeat. He couldn't even cry out, he just let out a strangled gasp and fell to his knees. He caught Shiemi's barely open eyes.

Something hit his back and forced him to the floor – the spirit's foot.

"Wh-what…are…you?" He gasped, all the air knocked from his lungs.

_I am nothing, _it sighed joyfully, _I am not a thing, I just exist._

It walked round the front of Yukio, and crouched in front of him, so that Yukio could see the patterns of swirling dust within it.

It chuckled, a throaty choking sound that instilled pure fear into Yukio. Yukio gasped in a breath, and tried to shift backwards. The figure reached out a hand, and put it through the student-teacher's eyes.

Yukio screamed.

The resentment he felt from earlier returned in full force, along with a dark presence at the back of his mind. A crawling devil-like figure grinned a toothy yellow grin at him from within his mind. A fist punched at him from within him, and he couldn't hold his consciousness any longer.

Blackness swallowed him whole, and all he could see was a sinister sneer as the world collapsed around him.

* * *

><p><em>The world burned, eaten by blue fames that tore at the sky. He stood on the hill, watching as his flames slashed and ripped the world he knew to pieces. Burning tears made tracks down his face as he watched the things he loved disappear.<em>

_A girl stood in the distance, her hair blowing in the wind, silhouetted against the iridescent light behind her. He saw her mouth move, but couldn't hear over the crackling flames._

_He moved closer, trying to hear her words. But the ground held him in place._

_**You will not disobey me! **__Shrieked a malevolent voice in his head._

_His hand was raised, and pointed at the woman. All of a sudden, he realised what it was that this voice was making him do._

_He was going to kill the girl._

_He tried to scream at her to escape, but only flames escaped his mouth. Flames worked their way round his hand, the blue scorching his skin. He shut his eyes in desperation, as he felt the flames leaving his hand._

_A tortured scream filled the air._

* * *

><p>Someone was grasping at his hand, clutching at the fingers desperately. He shifted in his sleep, his head rolling.<p>

"Yuki-chan!" whispered the one voice he wanted to hear. His eyes opened a crack, and the blurry images of figures crowding round him entered his vision.

He sighed, and attempted to sit up. Many sets of hands pushed his aching chest back onto the bed.

"Not yet, four eyes, you're lucky to even be alive!" Came an irritated but tired voice from his right.

"Shura? You're okay?" He asked, immediately bolting upright. He regretted that immediately. Pain and agony streaked across his body in waves and caused shudders to wrack his frame. Hands fluttered around his blurry vision, and he soon found himself staring at the white ceiling once more.

"That's why I…said…be careful," Shura sighed, her voice hushed and tired.

"Like you can talk," Yukio said, giggling slightly.

Something was nagging at the back of his mind. Something was missing.

Rin.

Where was Rin?

"Nii-san?" He murmured, expecting a sleepy yawn from the other side of the room; expected but did not receive.

His brother did not answer.

He looked through blurry vision at the rest of the group, and immediately wished for his glasses. He could only see patchworks of expressions, ghosts of sight and reality that passed him by.

"Where is my brother," He whispered, an edge of horror creeping into his voice.

Shiemi's arms worked their way round his shoulders, and someone patted his knee.

"They took him," Shiemi moaned, an edge of pure horror plain in her voice.

Silence followed. Yukio looked at the now-in-focus girl before him, and noted the bruise above her right eye. Noted the way she winced as he moved.

Saw the tears drip from her eyes, and realised that she spoke the truth.

His brother was gone.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Musings: <strong>I have not updated this in at least a year! I cannot tell you how sorry I am about this, circumstances such as school kept me from having the time to work, and when I finally had breaks, I was so drained that writing these chapters became something that wasn't an option. Right now I'm sitting in my bed with a horrendous hangover, feeling horrendously guilty that this has taken me so long. I hope that you will all forgive me._

_The reason why I was so good at updating before all this mess was that I was doing english as a subject, and so needed to sharpen my writing skills. As such it was easier to motivate myself to do this. I can't tell you how often I'll update from here, but I certainly hope it wont be a whole year from now._

_Shogi is a Japanese board game similar to chess, but with more pieces and more complicated._

_Ok, enough moping: reviews!_

**_A Natsume Yuujinchou lover -_**_ How very astute of you! I figured that, seeing as this was a story that heavily involved Satan, I should do something extremely pretentious make the chapter titles names of Satan :P. Yeah, I absolutely adore Natsume Yuujinchou - I like the way its so relaxing, but so deep at the same time. Thanks for re-finding my story, and thanks for sticking around :)_

**_Hartanna -_**_ Ooh! Sorry for playing with your emotions, more bad stuff maaaay happen in the future though *mysterious wink*_

**_Crowfether - _**_Ah. Now this is slightly awkward... Does one year count as soon? Thanks anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter..._

**_Pruyash - _**_Yeah... soon didn't exactly happen... I'm very sorry about this *bows*_

**_Deer Flower - _**_Writers block + school = chapterless year. I apologize profusely for being as annoying as your brothers ;). Thanks for sticking with me to this point, I hope your questions get answered soon!_

**_MissSexyRain - _**_In short, yeah, bad things are going to happen... Very sorry for not updating sooner..._

**_Zoku -_**_ So much kindness! Thank you! I also find it annoying when the grammar is terrible, sadly I can't claim that I have perfect grammar - look at my early fictions to see! The whole in-character thing was worked hard at, though I think that in this chapter Yukio is a bit off, which is annoying me. I was very close to stopping halfway, it's the fact that kind people like you guys are waiting for me to update that kept me writing, so thank you!_

**_WobblyJelly -_**_ Thank you so much for the kind words!_

**_LaMindy - _**_Me too, but shhhhhhhh they don't have to know! ;) Thanks for complimenting my writing, I wouldn't say that I was good at writing, but it's so sweet of you to say that I am, thank you! Aaah, I hope the pain that Rin feels isn't too painful :'(. Sorry for making you wait too, but thank you for sticking with me!_

**_Kanrei -_**_ I've failed at your one request, I'm sorry :'(_

**_innocence-creator -_**_ thank you for the kind words! I'm sorry that I failed so badly at updating!_

_**ShiroHichi891 - **Thank you very much! I hope I manage to keep you in more suspense as we go!  
><em>

**_NarutoUzumaki72 - _**_Aah, A fellow Naruto fan, hey :) Thank you very much, I will try hard to keep updating guys, ok? Mephy-chan will probably make another appearance, although I find him very difficult to write about, seeing as he is just SO out there ;)_

**_Lyneel -_**_ Thank you, my good sir! I will continue to endeavor to update sooner!_

**_NaruSaku-Charlie7 -_**_ Wow, another Naruto fan! Although I'm much more of a NaruHina fan meself, I do like the NaruSaku chemistry :3. Thank you for the kind words!_

**_wolfeclipse25 - _**_Complete and utter faliure, sorry!_

**_carley - _**_Well, here's whats next, unfortunately it's very late :'(_

**_Kitsura E - _**_I'm glad I've managed some suspense, the atmosphere of a story is very important, in my humble opinion at least. Thanks for reading!_

**_kirana46 -_**_ I am sorry, it was shameful of me to leave this story for so long. Better late than never, maybe? Thank you!_

**_Wow guys! I am shocked at the reception, the review responses are about as long as the chapter itself! I have to get working..._**


	6. Kroni

Yukio tripped, his feet fumbling on something unexpected on the pavement. He rubbed his eyes, wincing at the pain they felt. He had his glasses on now.

So why was his vision still blurry?

Shiemi gripped his hand and pulled him to his feet. He saw her brow furrow slightly through his clouded vision. He groaned internally at this predicament. His own brother was missing and he couldn't see a damned thing! He nodded at Shiemi in gratitude and let go of her hand.

He could deal with lost sight better than most – Father had trained him to use his other senses more than sight, because of the weakness that he came with; so that if a demon took his glasses, he would still be able to defend himself at least.

But this wasn't the heat of battle. This was everyday life, and without the sense-sharpening adrenaline rushing through his veins, he was struggling more than he cared to admit.

"Hey! Sensei!" Shouted a voice from behind him. Bon.

Yukio turned in the direction of Bon's voice and straightened his aching back. The others didn't have to know about his sight. If they did, they would never ever allow him to come with them and help rescue Rin. He had told Shiemi that his chest was in pain, and that that was why he moved so slowly and tripped so easily.

She hadn't believed him, he could tell that much.

Bon marched over. He immediately saw that something was off about Okumura-sensei. Something about the way the teenage teacher was staring at him, his gaze wasn't quite centred over Bon. The teacher was stood stiffly as well, as though he was constantly listening. The stiffness was understandable – a powerful demon had stood on him after all. Bon looked at Shiemi, who was fixed on Yukio. She had realised something too, he just knew it.

Bon marched over and bowed to Okumura-sensei stiffly, "We have just talked to Mephisto. If anyone knows where Rin will have been taken, we figure it'll be him"

Yukio's ear twitched, someone on crutches was heading over. He rounded his eyes on the new blurry form in the distance. Izumo on her broken leg.

"We're a bit battered aren't we?" He sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose between his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. He ignored the bright dots that exploded into existence as he squished his eyes. He missed his sight, he hated feeling frail like he was.

"That we are. my little petal," Boomed a jovial voice from the earth. "Eins, zwei, drei!" With the last word, Mephisto exploded into existence, in the middle of the circle of exorcists. Izumo hobbled over, out of breath.

"Mephisto-san!" Shiemi cried, rubbing the bruise on her head absently. She had recovered well from the demon's attack, she had merely been stunned after it had knocked her away. She had the feeling that it wasn't intending on hurting her - only wanting to get a rise out of Yukio. She felt herself shiver slightly as she remembered the sinister thing. It had instilled in her pure terror - something that she didn't want to feel again.

Mephisto said nothing, and appraised Yukio with an intense glare. "So boy-ya, when were you planning on telling them?" Mephisto growled, his green eyes narrowing. The white-clad demon gripped the white umbrella in his hand and dropped it in front of them. Shiemi, Bon and Izumo all stared at it transfixed, their eyes confused.

Mephisto muttered something, and suddenly a blurry image of the group appeared on the curved surface of the open umbrella. The enigmatic demon grinned, gesturing theatrically at the image. Yukio wasn't sure what was happening, but judging by the words of Mephisto, it had something to do with his eyes. Yukio glared at the white blob in front of him.

"Tsk, tsk, boy-ya," Mephisto tutted, tapping his chin, "I had realised that your sight was lacking, but not to this extent," Mephisto pointed at the blurry image in the umbrella.

"Yuki-chan…" Shiemi whispered in horror.

A grin stretched in Mephisto's face, pulling his lips into an almost sinister smile,

"My, my," He smiled, "The umbrella has matched your wavelength, Boy-ya. Eins, Zwei, Drei!" He cried, pointing at the umbrella.

And suddenly the image shifted, showing darkness. A darkness that was punctuated by dots of blue flame. People came into focus, their faces masked by the darkness and by their cloaks. Their mouths moved, but no sound could be heard through the umbrella.

"Rin's sight is not much better than yours is at the moment, Boy-ya" Mephisto smiled.

The students gasped, coming closer to the image in the umbrella, checking for anything that might give away the half-demon's whereabouts.

A man in a red cloak came up close to Rin's sight, his mouth moving. They couldn't tell what it was that was said, but they could tell that it wasn't good.

Because soon the image went blank, and the umbrella's surface came into view once more.

Mephisto picked up the umbrella, and shut it with a flourish. He stood still as a statue, his back facing the others for a moment. His yellow eyes narrowed and he gripped a lock of his midnight blue hair thoughtfully.

"My, my, seems as though we're in a little pickle now doesn't it," He sighed, his voice playful. He turned quickly, and bowed to the group,

"But my umbrella might just know where to go," He grinned, and stood straight again, his hand on his hip, "Now we just need to decide who will go,"

* * *

><p>Black. Pain.<p>

Black.

Pain.

When was something going to change?

Echoes of a past drifted by him, little oases of emotion that once filled him completely. Memories whispered through his mind, asking, wondering. They were the result of a hopeless future and brought a keening sadness with them.

They didn't matter any more.

He didn't want to wake, accepting that futures could be forged properly. He didn't want to speak new memories, creating new echoes to assault him at times like this. Nothingness in itself was a nice thing to aim for, wasn't it?

The whispers became louder, forming annoying chatter at the back of his mind. How infuriating.

_They should all burn._

His eyes opened with shock. Who had said that?! His gaze swung around vehemently, wanting to catch a glimpse of the one who had said that, wanting to destroy such a hopeless being. He waited for his eyes to focus.

Why wasn't his vision becoming clearer?

He sucked in a deep breath, and felt an unexpected burning at the back and sides of his lungs. He regretted that deep breath immediately. He regretted opening his eyes.

He regretted a lot.

Rin let his head fall, and only then did he notice that his body was hanging. He was chained, held up by his hands. Blood slowly dripped from his arms, creating vein-like tracks down his arms. Rin pulled his head up; weakness was something he should deal with.

Something he _should _deal with. Trouble was, he didn't feel like dealing with it at that time and place. His head fell once more, and he found himself looking at an impressionistic version of a stone floor. A chuckle escaped his chest, as he thought about the joke that was his current sight.

_I personally wouldn't find it funny, but whatever floats your boat, I suppose. _

Rin's head snapped up again, hoping to find a blurry image of a figure. Nothing. Was this mysterious voice all in his head?

_Wow. That took you far too long to work out. Are you sure you're not a dumb low class demon?_

Rin snorted indignantly, _'Who're you calling low-class?!'_

_So that was your issue with my last statement?_

Rin didn't answer, just pursed his lips, annoyed. He wheezed in another desperate breath, realising only then that his lungs were literally starved. If something didn't help him soon, he would die. He could feel a coldness at the tips of his raised fingers, though he was unable to decide whether it was lack of blood or lack of oxygen. Something told him that it was the latter.

'_Why are you here?' _Rin moaned at the other, wanting to scream in frustration at the voice.

_Not "who are you?" but "why are you here?" eh? _The voice replied cryptically,

'_Don't be silly, I already know who you are, Impure King' _Rin replied, not wanting to persist with the puzzling nature of the conversation. He was sick of puzzles and lies.

_I see. So you do know who I am then. _The Impure King sighed, sounding almost… disappointed, _I am here because I don't want to leave this land yet, and because I wanted to cause you as much pain as possible for killing me. The fact is, though, that I couldn't poison you with my miasma on its own – I had to bind a piece of my soul to your mind. It's the best of both worlds really – I get to live on __**and**__ you get some pain._

Rin cursed slightly and clenched his teeth; grinding them together in frustration, "Get out." He whispered at it. He did NOT need a pompous demon in his brain, restraining his potential, causing the agony and suffering that pieced his soul.

_It doesn't work like that, I'm afraid – only the blue flames of hell can eject me – thus I sealed them within you when I first entered._

'_You bastard.'_

_Agreed. It's a pleasure really._

And with that, the presence of the voice faded. Suffering scratched red-hot claws across his body, submerging him in a crimson world briefly. He cried out, and thrashed against the chains that held him.

He leant his head on his shoulder, burying his face in his own blood-smelling arm. He moaned in muffled waves, each following after the quivers of iron pain. Blackness rose from within his soul, forbidding him from hoping.

A hand grabbed his chin, but Rin couldn't open his eyes. He felt his face being lifted, saw the redness of a light shining through his eyelids. But he couldn't move.

"So this is our hope then?" Whispered a voice, sinister and piercing, "He's halfway to Gehenna already,"

Rin could hear the disapproving tone, and shivered slightly in fear. He couldn't see the one to whom the voice belonged to, but that just made it worse. The voice seemed to come from someone who had long known cruelty – so much cruelty that it had twisted the person. The voice possessed a darkness that could only be bred from such cruelty.

The hand tugged his face from side to side, as an unknown gaze examined him carefully.

"To think that Satan could have such an innocent looking son…"

Rin tried again, feeling his eyelids flutter as he fought against their heaviness. Slowly, his blurry vision wasn't just the inky black any more. He saw a face, shadowed by a blurry veil. A hazy grin appeared on the unfocused face.

"Why hello there, my mini devil," the face whispered, bleary lips making muddy shapes. Rin smelt a minty freshness on the person's breath, heard the raspy cruelty of the voice.

"Lets fix up those broken eyes of yours, Akuma-chan," Breathed the hazy lips, before a glowing light appeared between the person and Rin. After a few hastily muttered words, the world suddenly snapped into focus.

Rin blinked. Once. Twice. His world became more definite, he _saw _once more. But he saw a place that he hadn't seen before – a hexagonal chamber, rows of pews all filled with silent figures surrounded him. He was in the centre of this stone room, kneeling upon an altar that had been sunk into the ground. A sick feeling buried itself into his already pained stomach. There were so many people in this room – what were they there for?!

As if reading his mind, the figure in front of Rin gestured to the room with a wide, sweeping arm, "Akuma-chan, you are here for a very good reason,"

A candle by Rin's side spluttered, and he saw the, what he now knew to be, man's face.

One red eye stared out from underneath the crimson hood, the other destroyed by a snaking scar that ran down his face, drawing its angry red line down, over his neck and beyond the cloth that made up his cloak. The wound had mangled the man's lips, creating the strange, cruel voice that Rin had listened to earlier.

The man grabbed Rin's chin with a scarred hand and pulled it upwards again. Rin hissed in pain, as his chest was jolted.

"My Akuma-chan, you are going to help us kill your dear old father," The man said, a grin curling up over his face, crooked and sinister.

The shadowed figures in the room all stood, similar grins echoing on their faces.

"We are not here by chance…" The leader sneered, raising his arms high,

"We are bound by fate to Satan."

"The deaths we have faced…"

"…Shall make us stronger to combat the blue flame."

"If he hides beyond the mirror…"

"We shall drag him out!" Yelled the silhouettes of people, all raising a fist into the air.

"If he calls his minions of Gehenna to fight us…"

"We will destroy them first!"

"And when he is all alone in Assiah…"

"We shall make him beg for mercy and forgiveness,"

Rin stared at the creed, with its one hundred and ninety two members, and felt himself shake slightly in fear as he heard the leader's next words,

"And we shall give him none,"

And with that, the leader lowered his arms, and smashed them onto Rin's head.

Blackness clawed at him.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Musings: <strong>__Well hey there! Hope you enjoyed this, the first couple of of paragraphs don't sit well with me because the story's plot has deviated slightly from what I originally intended (odd, huh)_

_Some notes - Boy-ya, is how the Japanese say 'boy' when they say it in English, it's quite patronising, and I thought it would suit this situation._

_Akuma-chan roughly translates to "little devil" (I hope) Akuma means devil, and chan is an honorific used to denote cuteness, but can also be used as a way of patronising the other person._

_Ok, here we go, review replies:_

_**MissSexyRain – **__That they did, stay tuned for the next exciting instalment ;)_

_**Hartanna – **__This might have enlightened you slightly, not telling you what the 'thing' is yet though :P_

_**animeluvr19410 – **__Thank you! Hope this is what you were looking forward to! Maybe this has enlightened you slightly _

_**TeamEdo4ever – **__Here ya go, a new chapter – don't know how regularly this is going to happen, unfortunately _


	7. Beelzebub

An endless tunnel, moist and dripping with cold water. Its walls were rugged and rough, its floor unstable and weak. No light shone in this place. Only the constant echoes of water droplets gave the smallest indication of the world around them. They walked slowly, their feet testing the floor before moving on, their ears straining for echoes that might help them.

Shima led the group, using heavy taps of his monk staff to test the floor in front of them. Two glowing balls of flame approached from in front of them, floating round the group, before being sent on again by Mephisto.

The two Will 'O Wisps had been conjured by Mephisto, great balls of wreathing blue flame. They were there to scout ahead, and to allow for sight when they felt it was needed. In the brief period of their approach, Shima had seen a collapsed floor and wall to their right,

"Step carefully here, guys" He called, "On the left!"

They moved slowly, blind and afraid. With grasping hands, they clutched at the slimy cave wall, ignoring the furry moss and gooey water. Shiemi clutched onto Yukio's arm, trying to be a rock of support and strength.

But she too was afraid. She was afraid of what lay beyond the end of the tunnel, she was afraid of what was going to happen to all of them, afraid of things that were beyond her control. She was afraid that she was Yukio's only strength, and was frightened that she'd let him down.

She was afraid of finding Rin.

She was scared that he'd blame her, even when in her heart of hearts she knew that he wouldn't. Her body shook so much with fear, that she found each step a struggle. Every step took her closer to toppling, closer to failing.

Yukio could feel the shivers that ran through her body. But he did nothing. Because the shivers ran down his spine also, it seemed hypocritical to comfort her fear, when he too was so afraid he could barely move on.

So the two walked slowly on, preyed upon by their respective demons.

But the thing was, they didn't give up. Their courage was their ability to keep taking tiny steps through the depths of terror.

Yukio frowned, to him the tunnel was more than just dark. It lacked any detail. Through his ruined sight, he saw nothing; no moss on the walls, no shapes beyond him, no reflections in the water that ran down them. It was emptiness.

* * *

><p>The sound of birds woke him. Followed by a moaning wind, how long had it been since he'd heard such sounds? The birds chatted incessantly, their voices repetitive and squeaky. The wind was odd. No movement followed its dull roar; no <em>wind<em> was in the sound.

Rin fought to open his eyes, the sounds of the birds becoming less charming and more foreboding by the minute. They were _too _repetitive, too perfect. With sudden clarity, Rin realised.

The sounds were of machinery. The birds were the squeaking of wheels upon metal. The moans of the wind were the powerful motors that kept the thing running. Rin opened his eyes and saw that he was attached to the contraption. His arms were held in place by cuffs positioned on cogs. His feet were also held in cuffs; the machine was pulling them down. His body practically creaked with the strain and pain of being held in such a position. Just when he thought he could stand it no longer, the movement of the machine stopped with a shuddering clunk. The deafening roar continued however, a far away machine fulfilling some form of job.

"That'll do there," Ordered the leader from across the room. "How do you like it, Spawn of Satan?" He chuckled "This machine is quite marvellous, don't you think?"

The leader stood, illuminated by a hazy orange light. His crimson cloak was pulled over his face, but Rin could just see a slight scarring on one side of his face.

"Why… am I here?" Rin croaked, his throat dry. His lung hurt – clearly it hadn't been given the chance to heal – especially not with a certain evil demon currently restraining his flames.

The leader said nothing, just walked towards Rin with a small sneer on his face. It was a face that made Rin shiver, despite the warmth of the room.

"Did I not say, Akuma-chan?" The hooded man asked jokily, "You're here to assist with the death of a certain father of yours,"

"I don't have a father," Rin whispered, screwing his eyes shut with sudden anger and a deep sadness. Silence met his words, even the machine seemed to pause for a moment.

"I really wish that were true," The leader sneered, walking up to Rin and grabbing his hair, pulling it up. Rin's head strained against the machine, trying to relieve itself of this new pain stemming from his scalp.

"But it's not, is it," The leader scorned, anger suddenly fresh in his voice. Rin's frantic blue eyes met the leader's shadowed eyes. Now that Rin was so close to the mystery leader, he could see the face of the enemy clearly.

One eye, his right one, was obliterated, burned so badly that the lid was shut from the scarring. The burn extended down the man's face, one side of his lip was gone, revealing a few teeth – no wonder he always seemed to be sneering. The left eye was bright blue in colour – as bright as Rin's. The man's face was framed by wild black hair.

Rin saw, with demonic eyes, the shadow of something demonic within this man. He was barely even human now – something had twisted him until he was beyond the point of return. This man would never be human again.

The left eye narrowed in anger, and the grip on Rin's hair tightened, causing him to strain against it. He gasped, his lung protesting at any wriggling that Rin produced. The leader looked down at Rin's tail, which was curling in on itself, straining against the pain it felt. The villain gripped the tail with his other hand and pulled.

Rin choked out a cry as his most vulnerable tail was pulled, his back arched as much as the restraint allowed.

Suddenly the pressure was gone, he felt his tail being clipped into place somewhere below him, but couldn't look for the restraining machine. The man looked at Rin in the eye, no sign of the sneer on his face – just pure anger.

"I wish you and the rest of Gehenna weren't around, but we can't be that fortunate, can we?" He sighed, "We'll just make do with killing you and your father."

The machine reeked of oil, the rusting compartments and wheels creaked even in stillness. It was ugly, disgusting. The tangy smell of iron itched at Rin's nose; it smelt too much of blood.

With a jolt, Rin wondered – perhaps it _was_ blood. Who knew what this radical branch of the church was capable of?

* * *

><p>Their footsteps echoed harshly throughout the tunnel, each step meant one step closer to Rin. But there was fear within the party, they trembled as they walked, the soft tap of their feet was unsteady. Mephisto showed no sign of emotion, but he too did not like the corridor.<p>

There was something in the air here, a nameless evil that didn't come from the Devil or Gehenna. It was unsettling, he kept seeing visions of spectres in the gloom. Mephisto looked at the rest of them – unlike the humans, he could see fine. If they had seen him, they would have seen plotting within Mephisto's eyes. As it was, they followed him blindly – trusting the demon because they had no choice.

Bon frowned as he noticed a change in the echoing footsteps. Suddenly they were no longer just taps, the return echoes had changed; they almost sounded like… laughter…

Mephisto stopped, as did the others.

But the sound of footsteps didn't.

_Clack. Clack. Clack…_

The sound reverberated around them, boring into their ears, whispering fear into their brains. Yukio pulled Shiemi closer; and the rest of the group followed suit, bunching up together.

_Clack. Clack. Clack._

"We can't stay here forever," Hissed Bon quietly, slowly edging forwards. Shima gripped his arm, holding him back,

"We can't do that, Bon," he whispered, "We don't know what _it_ is!"

Bon gritted his teeth, forcing his shaking legs into action, "We _have_ to, we can't leave Rin alone!"

_We __**have **__to…_

_We __**have **__to…_

_We __**have **__to…_

The words echoed around them, as though many mouths were whispering them again and again. Each time, the echo was changed slightly; altered from the sound of Bon's determination, to a quivering, terrified voice.

The echoes caused Bon to step back a step, re-joining the group.

_Clack. Clack. Clack…_

The thing was back to walking again, drawing ever closer. Bon gulped, frowning as a blue haze emerged from the tunnel.

Mephisto laughed, "Ah! It seems that I am not allowed to come any further!" he giggled, but he stayed where he was.

"What do you mean?" Moaned Bon, his voice quivering in fear – if the principle left now, what would become of their group?

"Aya, Bon-kun, seems you're a little scared," Giggled Mephisto, removing his hat with a flourish and proceeding to pat the dust from it. "Still," He muttered, his voice growing fearsome and strong,

"I cannot go any further forward." He said, pushing his foot forward. As his foot came down, some unseen force pushed it back, and Mephisto was forced back a step. He chuckled, turning his back on the group. He began to walk away, back down the tunnel, a Will-O-Wisp tailing behind him. He gave a wave over his head as he left, humming to himself.

The group watched him go, their mouths open in shock. They huddled together once more, practically shaking with fear. Mephisto, their guide, their teacher was leaving – what were they going to do?!

Bon gritted his teeth; clenched his hands, clenched his toes. He wasn't going to lose to such a meaningless thing as fear! His whole body shook as he took a shuddering step forward.

"Come on," He muttered at the rest, not glancing behind him as he walked. If he had looked back, Bon knew that he surely would have fled. So he steeled himself and walked stiffly, forcing his legs into action.

Yukio watched the blurry figure of Bon for a moment, before he too began to move. Shiemi walked as well – she was Yukio's guide after all. Shima and Konekomaru shared a frightened glance before they too stepped into the fray.

The tunnel was dark before them, and there was nothing they could do to lighten it. Turning back was unwise, but going forward was full of darkness. And all the while, their steps echoed; the sound forming a quiet chuckling sound that reverberated around them.

They were not alone, it seemed.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Musings: <strong>So I have finished my exams - I am FREE! I actually have a whole year until my next form of education, ooh exciting! Sorry this is quite short - I am having writer's block, I'm afraid..._

**_nicky -_**_ Me too! I shouldn't have left it this long!_

**_SkYeLiMiT -_**_ Yep, I see it as my right to pick on main characters - sorry Rin! What makes you think that they're named after demons? I'm sorry if I've mislead you in any way, they're actually not named after demons, the names in italics are different names for evil deities - I thought it fitting to use that as their chant, but they aren't calling out to each other. I'm hoping the plot isn't getting lost by me - I keep adding things in that I didn't plan on doing! (Damn you imagination!)_

**_fluffsterzz -_**_ Aaah, please unflip that table of mine - all my pens and papers are on the floor now :'(. I'll try my best to resolve this as satisfyingly as possible! :D_

**_DreamxToxLivexToxDream - _**_Sorry it's so late_

**_Hartanna -_**_ You can certainly say that. Wait 'till you read what I'm planning for Rin next ;)_

**_HipsterL -_**_ I think the proper thing to say is that I update randomly ;). Glad you enjoyed!_

**_Maybe review? You'll feature at the bottom of the next chapter :D_**


	8. Azazel

Rin stared down at the leader's face, gritting his teeth in anger.

"Why are you doing this?" He grunted, pain wracking through his body. he had been on the machine for what felt like hours now. The leader's face darkened,

"You do not have a right to question me about this," The leader whispered, involuntarily bringing a hand up to his face, feeling the scar that was there. "The son of Satan wouldn't understand,"

"Fuck you," Rin growled, rage dripping off his tongue, "How would you know? I'm not his son because I want to be! Satan ruined my life – he killed the one who raised me. _You _wouldn't understand-"

"I do," the leader interrupted, his voice cracking, "I understand that too well."

"Alvar-dono," Called a hooded figure in black, "The ritual will need a few more hours to be completed,"

_So this mysterious leader is called Alvar then? _Rin puzzled, wriggling his head in an attempt to find a more comfortable position. His body seemed to be stuck in a way that was the most uncomfortable position for every single inch of his body.

Alvar seemed to consider for a moment, before motioning at the hooded one, "Bring me a chair, I think our guest deserves to know why he's here," He grinned, before sneering evilly at Rin.

The man left, and was back a few moments later with a foldable wire chair. Alvar sat down and cleared his throat.

"I was not as depraved as I am now throughout all of my life. I actually began as a very respectable man who would never even consider something like this. But people change, and that one day was the thing that changed me…"

* * *

><p>I ran. Nobody was getting in my way – I wasn't going to allow that. My wondrous Meira…<p>

Meira….

Meira was my wife. She was a beautiful, fragile thing of incomparable joy. She was, in keeping with the meaning of her name, a giver of light. She and I ran the monastery in our town and we were an exorcist team. She never fought, she was simply the best Doctor around and she complimented my Aria style perfectly – as I chanted, she would place a shield around us both.

I loved that shield, it was a place reserved only for me and her.

So, naturally, when I had received a call telling me about the Blue Night, I had run.

The sky was shot with neon blue streaks across it, as though the heavens themselves had been pierced by Satan's light. Before I even reached the temple, I could see the flames. That temple… the one that she and I had lived in for over a decade was disappearing, becoming dust and ash. That ash fell softly, silently – a contrast to the fierce, roaring flames.

Oh the _sound. _The rushing of waves, though louder than any wave I'd ever heard; The cracking and popping of water evaporating in milliseconds from incomparable heat; and the screams, sounds that chilled the bone and froze the blood. As I ran, my heart thumped wildly in my chest. It was screaming in worry, as I screamed my wife's name

"MEIRA!"

And suddenly, agony. It was a snake that coiled through me, exploding through my eyes and bursting into blue flames. Satan was within me, as he had been so many. Even as the writhing flames burst through me, I saw Meira gasp and run towards me. I felt myself stumble, the pain causing my body to fumble. Her arms spread, as though she was going to embrace me, but her face was contorted in worry. Through my failing eyesight, I saw her frail figure sprint towards my falling body, her arms almost reached me.

And then, instead of my screams, I heard her shriek. Flames danced out of her eyes, her face charring and cracking.

"No, no!" I whimpered, as my arms came around her body, supporting her there, as her burning head lolled. Her chest shook with the wracking cries that ran through her, her legs writhed, and her arms tried to do the same but I held her hands in mine and whimpered her name. Her sweaty palms twitched, but she managed to free a hand from my grip; with convulsing fingers, she touched my newly burnt face.

It was then that I knew. It was then that I realised.

She was going to die.

* * *

><p>Shiemi trembled, her body rejecting the cold of the tunnel. The returning laughter of the footsteps was louder than ever before. As she walked, the laughter became shivers of sound, whispers even.<p>

_My, my, my, my, my… _Trembled the air.

The group stopped abruptly, realising that the thing that was following them had decided to reveal itself. As their feet stopped moving, so too did the echo. In the silence's place, light began to show. It was slow, barely noticeable, at first, like when you wake up slowly. But beautiful light began to shine throughout the tunnel.

_My, my, I'm surprised that you lot decided to keep going through this endless darkness. It was brave of you, was it not? _Chuckled something in the light. Shiemi winced at it's voice; it was layered with the voices of many, of varying gender and age. The voice wasn't a sound either, it was spoken directly into their minds.

A dark, humanoid silhouette materialised in front of them. It bowed mockingly, strangely reminiscent of the way that Mephisto bowed to them. It pointed at Yukio's eyes, sniggering to itself as it did so.

Suddenly clarity burst through Yukio's sight, each and every detail that was able to be seen burst through him – his sight was fixed.

Two dots of white appeared on the creature's head, followed by a sneering white crescent shape. The white dots were eyes that now fixed the esquires with a hollow stare, the crescent was a mouth that sneered and leered at them.

Yukio stared at it, "Y-You're the one that attacked me and Shiemi!" He accused,

_Yes, that was me. You should feel grateful that I now reveal unto you my true form. _The figure said. As it spoke, the crescent that was its mouth did not move, the blackness just rippled slightly. The voice was ancient. It spoke with a knowledge that was older than the Earth, perhaps as old as the universe itself. Its voice rumbled like the booming of thunder.

Yukio grunted in anger, "What are you here for?!" He shouted,

_Now, now, that is no way to treat one who has just done you a service. I healed your eyes, do not for-_

"You were the one that injured me in the first place!" Yukio interrupted, bellowing.

A crack of a deep, dark sound echoed through the air, _Do not DARE to interrupt me, I am far more than you think. Who knows of what you have just spoken to the darkness!_

Yukio stepped back in the face of the rage of that _thing_. "What are you then?" He questioned.

_I am nameless. I am a shadow within even Gehenna. I am an anomaly, but a necessary one. Without me, Gehenna would fall, and the mirror would collapse._

"What does a big guy like you have to do with Rin and these radical church men?" Bon asked, his hands curled into tight fists.

_I am here to play, to mess with this pitiful word – what a joy that is!_

* * *

><p>Rin looked down and to the side, away from Alvar. He thought of his own father's death: the rivulets of flame that had spilled from his eyes like deadly tears. Rin could empathise slightly with the leader, knew why he would want revenge.<p>

"Now you know," Alvar muttered, "You can now see what has driven me to this."

"Yes," Rin agreed softly, "But I don't see why this involves me..?"

"This involves you, Akuma-_chan _because I know of a way to get revenge. _It _told me the way to revenge," Alvar laughed, his tone spiralling into craziness.

"…_What _told you the way?" Rin whispered fearfully, afraid of the cult leader's new demeanor.

"The one who has no name, but is sometimes referred to as 'Gehenna's Guide'"

* * *

><p>"Gehenna's Guide?"<p>

_Aye, _The voice responded to Yukio, _That is what they sometimes call me, I prefer GG. _One of the eye-dots shut for a second. The one known as Gehenna's Guide had just _winked_ at the esquires.

'GG' walked forward, leaving a trail of blackness on the floor with each step. The esquires stepped back, understandably afraid of the creature that had incapacitated their sensei and Shiemi as easily as if it were simply swatting a fly.

_Now now children, I thought you had steeled yourselves and were no longer afraid of the dark? _GG mused, putting a hand to what was probably its chin. _Then again, I removed the dark, did I not? Was it that that lulled you into a false sense of security?_

No one answered, they too were puzzled by their natural reaction – should they have moved backward? They had tried so hard to move forward, forgetting the fear that they had felt deep down. They had just undone some of their valuable steps forward. Now they felt an unwillingness to move forward again, they did not _want _to go towards the deep dark thing that claimed to be a Guide of Gehenna.

Yukio was the first to start it though.

He stepped forwards, towards the Gehenna's Guide with a stoic face. He was too close to his brother to give up now. The other esquires glanced at each other, then at the tunnel that had instilled such fear into them. It was far taller and wider than they had first realised, a chasm that seemed to span all that was around them. The mossy walls dripped with water, and they could now see all of the fragile sections of floor. After a few nods and clenchings of fists, they moved, following Yukio.

GG stepped aside, letting them past. As the last esquire, Bon, drew past the figure, GG followed and chuckled to himself.

_You are brave children, are you not? I am very impressed by you all. You seem to want to get in the way of my plans no matter what, how… __**admirable **_GG's voice turned scornful at the last word. _Very well, I shall present you with a gift._

The esquires stopped, and looked behind them to see the Gehenna's Guide draw itself to its full height, way above the teenagers, up 10 meters, to the top of the chasm. It spread its arms wide, as though it was going to hug the esquires. They shied away naturally, but GG's aim was not a hug.

Clapping its shadowy hands together, a ball of blue light appeared and fell to the ground. The blue ball burst, and within it was a very confused looking Izumo.

"W-Wha..?" She cried, flailing her arms as she looked around at her classmates' confused faces. "Why am I here?"

But GG was not finished, it leant down and touched Izumo's leg – the broken one. With a flash of light, Izumo's leg began to feel tingly and warm. The cast on it melted and floated away as white smoke.

She ran her hands over her leg, and felt no pain. Her leg was completely and utterly healed. Shima looked at her in amazement, before offering her a hand. She promptly slapped it away, and stood up on her own.

_Now that all the obstructions are in the way, I suppose it is time to tell you about our plan, no?_

* * *

><p>Alvar grinned at Rin and his right eye glowed red, shining brightly. His left eye, scarred shut glowed red from within, the slight cracks where the white of an eye could be seen were accentuated with red. Rin shrank back from the man, straining against the cuffs and chains that held him in place. They creaked with his movement, and Alvar seemed to be roused from madness by the sound.<p>

Alvar stood, walking over to Rin and staring up at him from the ground.

"You will help us," He muttered,

"We will _kill _Satan,"

* * *

><p><strong><em>Author's Musings: <em>**_There you are, the second chapter in a week - aren't you proud? I have finished everything to do with school now, so suddenly I have no responsibilities or anything - it's really refreshing to be this free!_

_I have fully planned out this fic now, so I won't have any problems with writers block now, I hope you enjoy it!_

**Review replies:**

_**Guest:** Hope that satisfies you slightly!_

**_LinktoTwilight:_**_ I'm glad that my story is back too; thank you guys again for sticking with me and coming back to me after a whole year of no chapters! I can't promise that 'there'll be a chapter every week' but now that I'm free, I should have a little more time! I'm not sure you'd want them to find Rin if you knew what I was planning ;) (oohh, mystery!)_

**_Thank you guys for reading! Please review, it helps me out a lot and keeps my morale up :D_**


	9. Ahriman

_Kill Satan? _Rin thought incredulously. As he hung there, suspended by chains and strapped to a machine against his will, Rin Okumura began to laugh.

"No one can kill Satan," He said through the laughter, "He's practically a god – that's what 'King of Gehenna' means!"

The circle of yellowy-light barely illuminated the room, but Rin could tell that others were in the room. They stood at the edge of the circle of light that illuminated the centrepiece of the room: the machine that Rin was attached to. As Rin giggled to himself, in the dim orange light of the chamber, he saw leader Alvar's face change. It was a slow metamorphosis; his face sank, the emotion on it rubbed away into a cold nothingness.

Alvar turned his head, looking off into the eyes of an outside spectator. How dare this spawn of satan _mock_ his plan – did he not know of the way to kill satan?

"Even gods can be killed, Akuma-chan, it has happened many times before," Alvar muttered, his ever-present sneer deepening.

"W-what?" Rin gasped, "How, when?"

Instead of answering Satan's son's question, Alvar just stared deep into Rin's eyes, while the 191 other creed members chanted as one;

"_Shaitan, Appolyon, Set,_

_with terrible fates they met,_

_Angra Mainu, Kroni,_

_Locked within Assiah's body,_

_Beelzebub, Azezel, Apep,_

_Cursed unto death,_

_Ahriman, Lucifer, Asuras,_

_No longer the Kings of Gehenna,_

_Satan,_

_Soon to meet them."_

* * *

><p>GG smiled as he sang the rhyme along with the creed members. Unlike the esquires, the almighty Gehenna's Guide could hear all that went on within its domain. And this network of caves was the dwelling of GG's host, so GG had easily made the caves his domain. Bon turned his head, eyeing the creepy figure that was tagging along.<p>

"What was that?" He asked, not stopping.

GG laughed, _The legend of the rulers of Gehenna,_ it replied, _Satan was not always on Gehenna's illustrious throne you know,_

Yukio stopped, his eyes widening, "What?!"

Gehenna's Guide stopped, the white dots on its face staring directly into Yukio's soul, _The others have been killed, betrayed and usurped over the years. It's the way of Gehenna,_

Shiemi gasped, "So there _is _a way to deafeat Satan," she whispered.

Bon couldn't help himself, he smiled: finally, a chance for him to get his revenge. Since Bon had set defeating Satan as his goal, he had always worried that it was, like Kamiki said, a naïve goal. After all Satan walked in a higher place, somewhere that Bon would never be able to reach. Satan walked among the gods of their time – what chance would an immature exorcist like Bon have to defeat Satan? But now Bon knew that there _was _a way to kill Satan. Bon was going to walk that tight-rope thin path that was now ahead of him, the path that lead to the death of Satan.

"What is the way?" Bon inquired, his voice excited and rushed – he wanted to know!

Gehenna's Guide spared the Kyoto esquire a glace, before bending over and laughing, _Revenge again, hm?_ It sneered, its layered voice sending chills through the esquires' bodies, _You humans are detestable creatures – what luck to find such a vengeful race!_

Bon stayed quiet, staring fully into the eyes of GG

_There is one way for the people of Assiah to kill the leader of Gehenna for good_, GG said, turning round and beginning to walk down the mossy-green tunnel again, _You must lock Satan within the body of one of its kin, and then kill them both._

* * *

><p>"We will lock Satan within you, and then kill you both. This is the only way for a person of Assiah to kill one of the Kings of Gehenna," Alvar explained, his eyes dark and unreadable<p>

Cold hands of fear gripped at Rin's heart in that moment. It was all so clear now – this was why Rin was clamped into place. It would make it easy to kill Rin now; there would be no resistance from him.

Never had Rin wished more for his flames than he did then.

_Is this true, Impure King? Can this kill Satan? _He couldn't help but ask the one possessing him, turning his mind inwards. The presence in Rin's mind stirred, and suddenly the Impure King was awake again,

_I am not sure. I am a mere babe compared to the thing that is possessing Alvar so I cannot compare to its knowledge. _The Impure King clarified, puzzlement emanating from him and into Rin's mind.

_What __**is**__ possessing Alvar?_

_It is an old being, known as Gehenna's Guide. It is the advisor to the Kings of Gehenna, but it is also the mediator. My guess is that it's not happy with Satan's rule and wants to get rid of him._

Rin gulped, his mind rejecting the information swelling through it. He didn't want to die! Rin had only just become friends with others; he wanted to forge more memories with them. The pain in his ribs and lungs became more pronounced as he gasped for air, suddenly unable to breathe.

_Do not forget, Spawn of Satan, that those of Gehenna are tricksters and liars. Gehenna's Guide could be at the top of Gehenna, but chooses instead to manipulate them from the shadows. _The Impure King interjected smugly.

Rin shook his head, abruptly shaking his limbs. He thrashed as hard as he could, trying desperately to escape. Red-hot pain boiled up from within him when he tried this; he gasped as his whole body protested against him. Still he thrashed, until his body was at breaking point. Then his head slumped, as sobs of fear wracked through him. He had only just found his resolve to live; he was finally beginning to live with himself.

But now.

But now, this creed was trying to take away that one thing that he'd always had, but never appreciated. His _Life. _

'At least it's not Yukio' he thought suddenly, realising that it could have been Yukio. Suddenly, like a warm shower, relief washed over him. The relief rinsed away the frustration and fear, leaving nothing but a small film of it over his skin. He shut his eyes, releasing the tension in his body. He resigned himself, muscle by muscle, to his fate.

He glanced at Alvar, who seemed to be taking in a deep breath; as though he was about to begin the countdown to Rin's death. Rin threw back his head as much as the collar of the machine would allow, and began to howl in mourning.

He was mourning the life that he would never again appreciate; he was so afraid.

* * *

><p>Bon's blood chilled, his heart beating heavily in his ears. The tight-rope path to Satan's death crumbled and broke in front of his eyes, plunging him back into darkness – there was no hope of defeating Satan now. Not now he knew that either Yukio or Rin would have to pay for his selfish revenge.<p>

GG continued to walk, the rest of the esquires following suit. _Humans are interesting… _It muttered, _It is in your best interest to destroy Satan, and yet you are all against it now._

"Of course we are!" Shiemi cried, "Rin is our friend, and he has saved our lives so many times now!"

_Aah, a life debt. Even one such as I knows of them. Not that I would honour them._

"Of course you wouldn't," Konekomaru whispered disdainfully, "You do not understand honour,"

_You are indeed correct._

Konekomaru frowned at the demon's honesty, "Then how do we know that what you tell us about Gehenna is true? How do we know that this will kill Satan?"

"Konekomaru!" Chided Kamiki warningly, "Don't even think about letting this actually happen!"

"I know that! I would never wish for Okumura-kun's death! But it is a worry; what if all this plan achieves is a angry King of Gehenna that is trapped in Assiah?" Konekomaru retorted,

_My, humans that no longer seek revenge are fearsome creatures – you saw right through me! _GG laughed. As it did, the cave became darker around it, and it grew becoming a menacing, towering figure that stood angrily above them. They could suddenly see very clearly why the kings of Gehenna followed the advice of this one creature so religiously.

_Now that you know my secret, maybe I should just kill you all? _It mocked, its voice suddenly mimicking a villain from a bad TV programme.

The esquires gathered together, unsure as to whether they should laugh or quake in their boots. GG resolved it quickly by laughing.

_Either way I will benefit from this situation. Satan has been king for too long, so the humans will kill him eventually. If by some miracle he escapes the death from humans, he will be unable to escape his son's body and will thus no longer be the king of Gehenna._

"Why are you telling us this, oh great Gehenna's Guide?" Bon asked, sarcasm dripping from the words.

_Because there is absolutely nothing you can do to stop it, especially not now._

* * *

><p>The 191 creed members were murmuring, their voices melding into one. Alvar did not speak; instead he drew, with a piece of crumbling white chalk, a summoning circle within the circle of light of the room. It was an intricate circle of broken swirls and flames. What looked like imps held onto the inner circle of the spell, this circle was surrounding the machine.<p>

"This machine has been useful to us," Said Alvar absentmindedly as he drew the circle, running over each line twice so that it was thick and resistant to rubbing. "It allowed us to test this ritual numerous times – lesser demons do not need to be summoned into a blood relative,"

Rin just hung there, drained from his struggling and screaming. It was too much to see this, to hear what this crazy one was saying. Alvar completed another line: the image of a sun being eaten by one of the imps from the inner circle.

"We even discovered how to reverse it. We tested it on ourselves,"

One of the chanting hooded figures stepped forward. Without stopping her spell, this shrouded woman lowered her hood. She pointed her blind, scarred eyes in the direction of Rin.

"We will all die for the creed," She said, her mutilated lips turning up into a jagged smile. Her voice was hoarse, like she'd screamed too much. Her throat had scratch scars on it, as though she'd clawed at it desperately enough to leave scars. Rin couldn't look any longer.

_And die you shall _mused the Impure King within Rin's mind, taking pleasure from the foolishness of humans.

"I suppose _you _didn't assist in this at all, right Alvar?" Rin spat, allowing his words to become venomous and for the poison to throb in the air.

"I have already been possessed by a demon once, to open myself out to more will surely kill me,"

"Like others from this order have no doubt died!"

Alvar was silent. He nodded at the woman, and she bowed her black-haired head. It was patchy, her hair, a patchwork of scarred skin and flowing locks of hair. She raised her hood, struggling with the fabric in her maimed, fingerless hands. Eventually, Alvar lifted the hood for her. He let his hand touch her face briefly before she disappeared into the black edges of the room once more.

"Kana was the worst affected of all of us, we wanted to know what happened when powerful demons were forced into one of us. It seems that without a blood connection, the body rejects the new demon presence," Alvar explained, taking a brush and pot of ink from someone on the side-lines of the room.

"You experimented on your own people," Rin growled, his teeth razor sharp and his ears pushed back in anger.

"Would you not have done the same? If a war was being fought, would you not also fight against those who seek your destruction?" Alvar asked, his steely blue gaze seeming to pierce Rin's eyes,

"Not if it involves injuring those who devoutly follow me, that would be the same as betraying them,"

"So you _would _do it to someone you don't know?" Alvar grinned, revelling in the fact that he just cornered Rin, "What is the difference between those who follow me and those who do not, besides the fact that there is trust between us?"

Rin was silent, now eyeing the brush and ink in Alvar's hands suspiciously,

"Ah, you thought the circle just involved me drawing on the floor? _You_ are also part of the circle!" Alvar laughed, stepping forward. He carefully avoided the myriad of white lines on the floor in front of him as he half-danced, half-walked towards the rusting metal that held Rin. Rin began to struggle with renewed force – if Alvar ruined the circle, the ritual would be broken!

Alvar merely looked at Rin, unimpressed, before motioning towards one of the creed henchmen that stood in the darkness. The mechanism moaned into life, gears clicking into place, while pistons puffed steam into the air. During that time, Rin's struggling increased and a hook-like object curved down from beyond Rin's ear and hooked itself over his jawline. The machine belched a puff of smoke, before a seond hook appeared from the other side of Rin's face, helping the other one pull his jaw down. Rin cried out wordlessly, as a binding bar slipped itself over his forehead, holding his head in place, while his jaw was stretched unwillingly to breaking point. More bars and pads pressed themselves down on Rin's major joints, so that he could no longer move at all.

A needle containing a sickly yellow liquid swung down from above the terrified, feral exorcist's head. It squeezed slightly, allowing all air to escape from its tip, before jabbing harshly and accurately into Rin's mouth. Rin cried in pain, but for all his strength, he could not move an inch with the binding grip of the device. The needle emptied its contents into his vital vein within the mouth, and Rin felt the whole world twist and dim. He could no longer remember how to move his muscles, so his body fell limp.

Alvar walked up to Rin and stared him directly in the eye. He dipped the brush into the ink and began to paint jagged lines over Rin's face. It was only then, as the paintbrush reached his torso that Rin realised that he was bare-chested.

The machine was still whirring noisily, but Rin couldn't focus on that, he was trying to shake himself free of whatever it was that had paralysed him. He felt a black circle be drawn on his chest, over his heart, and other squiggly shapes within and around.

Alvar looked at Rin's legs for a moment, deciding after a second to motion once more to the chanting blackness surrounding them. The cuffs around Rin's leg popped open, before a thick pipe swirled down to the appendage, wrapping itself around the limb. It tightened, twisting and stretching the leg until…

Until..

SNAP.

The leg crumpled and cracked as the knee joint was splintered and cracked.

Hot bile rippled up Rin's throat, his eyes widened in shock, and a strangled, gargled cry erupted from his throat. Hot, burning pain ripped its way through his already broken body.

"That will teach you to resist when we are creating a circle," Alvar revealed mercilessly. Silence followed his words: the 191 tenants of the creed had stopped chanting.

It was time.

_'Tempore demittantur ista bestia,_

_ut transeat ad eum_

_iudicium suum.'_

Whispered Alvar, along with the rest of the creed; 192 voices, all speaking as one, all completing the spell.

Rin didn't have time to react. All he knew was that there was pain, hot, writing agony, and a lot of it.

Echoing throughout the dungeon, Rin's screams were heard. Rin felt it, the rising heat of flame and fear in his chest.

His death had begun.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Musings: <strong>That one was pretty fun :P. It's quite long too, because I had a certain quota to fill for these past two chapters. We're heading into the fully planned finale now, hope you will enjoy it! I'm on holiday next week - which is why I finished this chapter for today. Hopefully I'll still write in Crete, even if it's only on paper :)_

_This one seems to be slightly AU, sorry!_

_The ending spell is just a google translate into Latin of _

'Time to release this beast,  
>in order to pass unto him,<br>his judgement.'

**_Review replies:_**

**_Guest: _**_Here ya go, hope you've enjoyed it!_

**_blackchaosaria2501: _**_Hi! :3, I'm glad I've piqued your interest! To be honest, I could have gone down the pair-centric route, but Ao no Exorcist is too young for any definite pairings - (sorry 'bout that), and I try to always keep in canon. Hope you continue reading and enjoying from here out and thank you for the kind words!__  
><em>

**_Fireminer: _**_Yeah, I realised that my recent chapters have certainly been extremely lacking in the description front - sorry about that. I was trying to bring that back in this chapter, have I succeeded? Thanks for the critique and kind words!_

**_ShiroHichi891: _**_You can bet that it's not a good plan! And that plan is snowballing into motion very quickly! I hope to engage you more and more too! Thanks for the kind words!_

_**See you guys soon, review?** _


	10. Asuras

The screams were no longer human. They screeched and moaned and begged. _Rin _screeched and moaned and begged. Even a man such as Alvar, hardened against cruelty and suffering, had to look away from the writhing teenager. Rin was thrashing, this eyes glowing an eerie, incandescent blue; his tail had lit, the end now burning with the blue flames of Satan; his mutilated knee flopped painfully, cracking as the broken appendage convulsed along with Rin. His tail broke free of its bonds, the white-hot flame melting easily through the metal. Perhaps Alvar should have looked at that and worried, but Alvar was a man with a goal – and men with goals tend not to notice the important things. Though the teenager's pain was not something he could look at, it brought with it a disgusting, wrong sense of _joy._ Alvar was so close to his goal now, and that was all that mattered.

* * *

><p>From deep within, Rin was nothing. He floated; feeling nothing, seeing nothing. Then, without warning, his world flashed red. The flash brought with it an excruciating, debilitating pain. His back arched in agony within the blackness, and his eyes opened in shocked pain. His tail curled in on itself, tense with pain.<p>

Suddenly he was standing, his bare feet on a stone pavement. Fiery torches lined the plaster walls, creating circles of flickering yellow light. He blinked unsteadily, clearing his misty eyes in an attempt to understand what was going on around him.

_Why am I here?_ He asked himself, his head swimming in a misty blanket of ignorance. Then he remembered the pain, and he realised that the mist that was clouding his thoughts wasn't a mist of ignorance, but a mist of pain. The burning hot pain from earlier had now faded into a dull, but very real, ache.

The room expanded above him into nothingness, the weak torchlight didn't even get close to lighting up the ceiling. A small square cage was in front of him, the bars reaching for the dark ceiling. Rin looked up seeing the bars at their highest, and then traced them downwards. He traced his eyes over the slender bars, right down to where they entered the floor. Something dark was within the cage, a soft blue light emanated from the dark silhouette. Rin couldn't tell what it was, and nor did he want to know, he decided to ignore it for now. Looking at his feet, Rin noticed a square of small circular holes around him.

Then, a resounding thud, echoing around him. There was nothing he could do as the room quaked, causing him to stumble. Chains sprouted from the floor beneath his feet, wrapping over his ankles, all the way up to his knees. Even as he struggled, the chains pulled ever tighter, restricting all movement. Two cuffs sprouted from the ground by the arches of his feet and clicked into place, locking Rin in place once and for all. The chains wrapped round his legs again with a flourish, before threading themselves through a loop in the cuffs over Rin's feet.

Rin stood, at a loss for a moment, before yet another great roar from below him made the floor shake again. With a great metallic creaking, and the almighty sound of cogs grinding together, strong metal bars rose up from the circular holes at Rin's feet. The bars glinted crimson in the candle light as they rose, up and up, the bars extended beyond Rin's line of sight.

Rin was in a cage.

It was small; Rin could only stretch his arms if he slid them out of the reach of the bars. He gripped one bar, its cold metallic touch biting into his skin. He clenched his fist around the bar, trying to crush it or _something_! He wasn't going to be held here.

But where _was_ here?

For a brief moment, Rin surfaced, his eyes opening and staring at the mutilated face of Alvar. The agony seized Rin quickly though, his eyes clenching shut anew. His mouth opened, and strangled screams escaped.

"L-let me goo!" He wailed, his every muscle clenching and thrashing with pain. He pleaded at Alvar with his eyes, knowing all the same that nothing would reach this cold man. Not with the way that said man was looking at Rin – something akin to a sick _joy_.

* * *

><p>Shiemi ran. She didn't even bother to look behind her – she knew the others were following. Their footsteps echoed throughout the tunnel. From beyond them, a terrible, hoarse screaming reverberated towards them. It was from an all too familiar source.<p>

"Let me goo!" The voice screamed, and Shiemi faltered for a step. Tears formed at the edge of her eyes – he sounded so desperate!

_All the more reason to find him quickly! _She thought, her feet finding their natural stride again. She ran, feeling more and more determined as her feet took her closer and closer to Rin. He had saved her before, he had done so without a second thought about his own health.

It was her turn to save him.

Her fists clenched, creating tension throughout her body. In her right hand, she held the familiar-summoning paper and in her left she tore her skin open with her nails. With a smally flourish of her hands, she drew a line of blood on the pape.

"Come here," She muttered, the usual cute summon sounding more tense and angry than the others had ever heard. It sounded less like a soft coaxing, and more like a fierce reprimand. Her feelings must have got through to Nii-chan, because the paper glowed with a soft golden light before the greenman popped into existence. He took one look at Shiemi as she ran, her face set in determination, and leapt onto her shoulder. Nii-chan growled slightly with anger, anger at whatever had made his master so angry.

_We're coming for you, Rin_

* * *

><p>Rin was back in the dream-cage. Even though he knew now that the cage was just a figment of his imagination, he couldn't break free of it. What kept him here? What was it that held him in this place?<p>

His hands found the bars, and clutched at them. He leant over and rested his head against the smooth metal, his eyes closing momentarily.

He was so tired…

_Pain, agony_ fresh in his mind, as he once again woke to stare once more at Alvar's face. They locked eyes for a brief moment, blue piercing blue. Rin broke the shared gaze, choosing instead to wallow in his pain-wracked body. A shudder of suffering tore through him, forcing his head back and his eyes closed.

The pain washed over him once more, and he was in the torchlit chamber again. Something was different this time.

A rumbling was shaking the floor, and the torches flickered crazily because of an unseen wind.

_It seems that possessing you only delayed my fate. _an unseen voice whispered from the dark of Rin's mind. The Impure King sighed, and the shuddering of the room deepened.

"What do you mean?" Rin asked, his voice shuddering as he remembered the Impure King's own words:

'_Only the blue flames of hell may eject me'_

Rin's eyes widened in horror, as he looked once more at the cage in front of him.

"Father," He whispered.

Shiro stood in front of him, within the cage opposite Rin's. Shiro's eyes were shut behind the orange-tinted glasses that Rin remembered so well. Rin knew all too well, however, that this was not the man that had died to protect him.

This was satan.

As soon as he thought this Shiro's eyes opened, revealing piercing blue irises that could only belong to a demon. Satan's mouth pulled up into a smug sneer, and the cage around him shattered.

Satan said nothing, just stared at Rin. He lifted his foot and brought it down, stepping out of the square that had once been his cage. As his foot breached the barrier of the cage, it changed. It became smaller. It became Rin's foot. Satan fully moved out of the cage.

Rin looked out of the cage and into his own face. Satan had his face.

Satan sneered, his incandescent irises swirling with demonic light. Satan reached a hand through the bars of Rin's cage,

"You have done well, my _son_," He laughed, before beginning to walk away. With each step that the king of Gehenna took, Rin's mind became more blank. It was not the blissful blankness that came with sleep, but a fearful blanket of the knowledge that Rin was losing.

He was losing his mind.

Satan was taking his body away from him, and the further away that Satan got, the more Rin's mind slipped from him. He thumped the bars of the cage, trying to break them

"Come back, you monster," He screamed, throwing his head back in anguish. He was going to die if he didn't do anything soon! And then, his eyes began to close. His legs weakened, his arms slumped.

Through failing sight, Rin saw himself walking away, the blue flames of Satan already beginning to glow.

* * *

><p>The thrashing teen had stopped, collapsing against the machine that held him. The room quietened, the last echoes of agonized screams dying away. Those of the creed stepped forward, readying weapons and familiars. Arias took deep breaths, dragoons loaded their guns, tamers and their familiars readied themselves, and the knights drew their blades<p>

The room took a deep breath.

"Hold there," whispered Alvar, holding out a hand as if to stop them from attacking.

A breeze billowed through the room of tense exorcists, their charcoal-black cloaks whirling in the breeze. Rin's hair rustled in the breeze, as it began to circle around him. The circle lit up, shimmering with an electric blue colour. The circle paintings on Rin's arms shone too, along with the line that was drawn horizontally across his face.

To Alvar, he looked almost like a crucified angel.

Blue tears dripped from Rin's eyes, and red blood flowed from his lips. For a moment, Alvar thought that he had failed – perhaps Rin was not the perfect vessel for Satan? After all, it was only when demons rejected their hosts that the host began to bleed. Rin's slumped head lifted, and his back straightened.

His eyes opened, and Alvar knew.

He hadn't failed.


	11. Apep

_I am free! Free at last! I will terrorise all those around me, and you will all pay!_

_**No!**_

_Yes. I am free, you are not._

* * *

><p>The screaming had stopped, leaving an almost unnatural silence in its place. The cave had got warmer too, though all of the esquires were still shivering with anxiety as they walked. Rin's voice no longer carried down the tunnel. That could only mean one thing – he was no longer in pain.<p>

Was he dead?

Bon's heavy tread faltered. They may have been heading to warmer areas, but he only felt colder. Blinking back the water that filled his eyes, he ran. He was sure that his new friend was dead – what else could explain the silence.

No, he refused to believe it!

* * *

><p>Blue. It stared out at him from glowing eyes. The teen was blank-faced, his mouth a straight line across its face. The red pupils stared out from disinterested eyes, as they looked upon their dark surroundings. It was on fire; blue tongues of flame emanated from his hands, his feet, his tail.<p>

This demon was powerful.

It was clear by the nonchalant way he regarded the strangers that brandished weapons at him, that this particular demon was strong. The demon suddenly seemed to wake, looking round itself with disinterest.

Alvar shivered. What was this feeling that he felt? The creature he had brought out emanated a dark aura, nothing he had felt before was like it, but this aura was not the complete source of this new feeling that pulsed through Alvar. It shuddered though his veins with every heartbeat, as the demon he had created watched him. Was it the way the boy was looking at him that created this feeling? Silent and unforgiving, the teen was still, too still. Was it the eyes? He had seen demon eyes before – it came with the territory, but never had he seen such fierce eyes as he did now. The blue irises were cold, and yet they _burned_ with a molten fire. The pupils were white-hot ice ringed in red blood, and they stared right through Alvar.

Was it _fear _that pulsed through him?

Yes.

"W-what are you waiting for?" Alvar screeched, unable to keep the waver of fear from his voice, "Kill him!"

A hundred shouts echoed around them, as the beings closest to the demon charged forward, while the others shot at him with energy blasts. It was now that Alvar realised his tactical mistake; by having so many creed members, they all only got in the way of each other when they fought. Only a few of the members actually reached Rin, and only one knight actually connected. Blood spewed from the sword wound, but the demon barely seemed to notice.

Almost as soon as the sword wound was inflicted, blue smoke rose from the hole in the demon's stomach. The creed members watched in fear, as the wound knitted itself back together. They all stepped back in fear, as the demon began to laugh.

His tail glinted in the dark room, before it moved. Fast, so fast that they didn't see it. The knight screamed as the tail pierced him through the centre, before burning him whole.

What had he done?

It was a matter of mere seconds before the pandemonium began. The creed members watched their comrade burned to a crisp, and began to run. The demon was not satisfied with that. Its smile deepened and stretched, showing the razor-fangs. It licked its lips, straining against the metal that held it back. For a moment, Alvar was reassured, the machine had not failed him-

With an infernal roar, the _thing_ lit up with blue flames. The streams of fire engulfed the machine that trapped the monster, eating away at the metal until it was a mere puddle on the floor. Out of the fire, the demon rose. The flames swirled at the disturbance; they were completely under his control and arced towards the creed members. Satan stood in silence as the flames feasted, gnawing at the thing that had once held him. They spread out, beginning to claw at the fleeing creed. Blue, glittering, smoke evaporated off the demon's crippled leg, and he stepped confidently forward. He took in deep snarling breaths that fizzed with blue flames, and created streams of black smoke that puffed with each breath. It was slow, but the mangled lungs that Satan had inherited were healing.

"_Why so fearful_," He taunted, grinning unnaturally widely, his razor-sharp teeth glinting in the firelight, "_Weren't you the ones who wished for this?_"

The voice was no longer remotely similar to that of the boy that they had captured. Despite having the same root, this voice was cold and taunting. It was the voice of some_thing, _not some_one._ The snarling tones somehow managed to reach everyone in the deathly cave.

"_You should learn to follow through with your gambles_,"

* * *

><p>Screams. Not the voice that they expected, but many as one. What were the owners of these new screams afraid of? Was it the only the creed that screamed as one, or was Rin's voice among them?.<p>

Had the creed succeeded?

_Your friend has had it – no saving him now _GG giggled, bringing his dark arm up to his face.

"You're wrong," Yukio whispered from the front of the party, "I'd know if my twin was gone"

_How can I be wrong? _GG murmered, _I am the master of this realm, I know all that happens within this space. Your brother is dead._

"You're wrong!" Yukio yelled, shaking his head at the words, and clenching his fist, "My twin is not dead! I can still feel his presence!"

_Perhaps, but whose mind controls that presence, younger son of Satan?_

* * *

><p>He stepped to the side, readying his chants. Cold hands of fear grasped at him, as he watched the demon step forwards again.<p>

_Don't think about it - just say your words! _He thought, as he began his chant. He knew that Satan _had_ to have a fatal verse – all demons did – and he would continue to chant in the hope that the fatal verse was discovered. A knight and a dragoon stepped in front of him. Their movements were visceral, instinctive. They had fought many battles together, and they knew each other's fighting well.

The demon leapt forward, laughing as it did so. Its claws sprayed blood as another of the Aria's friends died.

The Aria clenched his body, as his hands formed another seal. He had only chanted a few verses, and already the demon had noticed!

Satan stood still, cocking its head to the size, listening to the words of god. It crouched, readying itself for an almighty leap. The Aria's knight moved to a more protective position, her hands tight on the sword that had protected the Aria so many times before. Satan leapt.

It swung a claw at the Knight, flinging her to the side easily even as she brought the katana in to parry. With a startled cry, she slid away from the Aria. She grunted with effort, as she fought to throw herself at the demon. Satan shifted in the air as she shot towards him, and she missed him with her sword. Satan followed her with its bright white pupils. She watched its face change from calm indifference, to mad _joy_.

Suddenly she was struck by something, it pierced through her centre and burned through her. The Aria, _Her _Aria screamed her name, and she couldn't help but reach towards him. Her half-blind eyes shed bloody tears, her mutilated throat screamed bloody words. Kana had been the worst affected by the experiments, but she had not been the _only _one affected. This Knight was nearly as bad; even now her scarred hands struggled with the sword.

Her body convulsed, and she forced her eyes away from her Aria. She needed to know what was killing her.

Satan's night-black tail pierced her chest, so close to her heart. Blood flowed freely from her wound, and her already painful throat coughed up blood. She forced herself to look at the Aria again, reassured to see the dragoon by his side. Wordless apologies fell from her lips, as the blood tears fell from her eyes. She made one last weak effort to slash at the tail that bound her, knowing that this was her last mistake. Satan spared her a vengeful glance, but she didn't see it – she was too busy ensuring that the last thing she saw was the Aria.

_Her Aria._

Alvar watched the three from a distance, and saw the Knight drown in blue flames. A tear dripped from his eye, forming a jagged path down his mangle face.

Even as the Aria screamed the Knights name, Satan tore through both him and the Dragoon in one fierce slash and Alvar watched every second. Everyone in this room was someone that trusted him, loved him in one way or another.

He had killed them all.

* * *

><p>The esquires rounded a corner and saw a blue, glowing room in front of them. They stepped forwards uncertainly, knowing that this was the place that Rin was struggling in. They knew that Satan was probably released. They <em>knew <em>that the lord of Gehenna was released, but they were not prepared for what they saw.

Bloody memories of people were strewn along the ground. Their burnt flesh no longer even vaguely resembled the people that had first entered this dark crypt. The torches along the wall no longer burned with comforting orange flames, but with cold, harsh blue flames. Twenty people were left, and they screamed.

Before he knew what he was doing, Yukio's feet had dragged him forwards.

_Brother!_

The other esquires joined him, running towards what they knew could be their deaths. They ran down the steps clumsily, tripping on lumps of discarded flesh that no longer even resembled something human. Shiemi clasped her hand over her mouth, swallowing the acid that rose in her throat, and choking on the unrestrained sobs that wracked her frame.

She stopped, feeling the innumerable tears in her eyes break free and pour down her face. She doubled over, as the acid rose again and spilled over.

"I'm sorry!" She moaned at the disfigured bodies beneath her feet, "I'm sorry!"

A hand on her back. Izumo

A roar of _delight._ Satan.

Her eyes widened, as she identified the undertone to the scream – in one past life, that scream could have been Rin's. Not any more.

Her head whirled, the bodies forgotten for a moment as she searched for the boy that had given her courage. He wasn't Rin. This monster may have been wearing the skin of Rin, the same muscles and bones, but it could never be Rin. With blood around his mouth, and all over his hands, there was no way that this beast could be Rin. The animal showed no hint of the brazen kindness of Rin, there wasn't a single sign of the boy that she had begun to love within those cold, demonic eyes.

A trembling man in a crimson cloak was running from the not-Rin. It was probably the leader of the group, especially as he was the only one wearing a crimson cloak. Besides the dead, whose cloaks were so stained with blood that they had become crimson.

_Alvar, _Chided Satan, _You spend all that time trying to revive me, and you just run away? We have a lot of catching up to do, you and I – you are one of the few people who survived my possession._

The man named Alvar stopped, tears dripping from his one good eye. "I have nothing to say to you, you probably only know that through your son's memories. You are just a tyrant, and it is time for your reign to end!"

_I remember all of those that I possess, it's one of the perks of the job._

Alvar tensed, looking behind him, at the one that he had both destroyed and created.

_She was tasty, wasn't she, that Meira?_

Something snapped within Alvar.

He _roared._ His hands clutching at the sword at his waist. Satan raised his hand, a smirk plastered onto his face.

"No!" Screamed Shiemi, "Rin! Don't do it!"

Satan flinched, and his clawed hand fell to his side.

Alvar howled, his sword cutting through Satan easily. Shiemi gasped, her hands flying to her mouth in shock. Satan's head moved, and he fixed his gaze onto hers. With a very deliberate motion, Satan raised his clawed hand.

Shiemi shook her head at her the demon masquerading as a friend, her head moving slowly and the tears dripping over her clenched hands.

Satan chuckled slightly.

His hand came down.

Blood.

_Blood._

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Musings: <strong>__Hey guys, sorry for the lack of review responses/Author's Musings in the last chapter, it felt weird to put something as upbeat as one of those after the chapter – It didn't fit._

_I am not overly fond of this chapter, but it's a lot better than it used to be, believe me. The problem with writing fanfiction about something as visual as manga, is that I've envisioned these chapters as manga chapters and not as writing. It's so hard to get this as… fluid and as visual as I want because of the lack of writing ability. I'm posting this now, but I might end up making the odd tweak – sorry about that!_

_Time for review replies!_

_**Chapter 9**_

_**TheShadowInDarkness – **__I don't intend to stop, I just can't guarantee that it'll be good!_

_**amenee – **__Thank you for sticking with it! Thank you also for the reviews in the past, I really am grateful! Things like that keep me writing this!_

_**Panda Master X – **__(Cool name!) Sorry for always having a delayed release time!_

_**Hartanna – **__Maybe they will, maybe they won't (waggles eyebrows). Heh heh I'm quite proud of GG, though he might not be quite so cute for long._

_**HipsterL – **__Eeesh, hope it didn't make you sick! It actually made my stomach churn a little when writing it – I hadn't really intended to go down the whump route at the end of that chapter!_

_**ShiroHichi891 – **__Be careful not to go too close to the edge of your seat, or you'll fall off ;). I am glad you liked the switching perspectives, I've always used it as a way to build suspense, and it's great to know that someone can see what I was trying to do (means I was succeeding slightly!) Here's another chapter – I hope it satiates your thirst ;)_

_**Fireminer – **__I'm glad! I had already written the first half of the chapter when your review came through, so I tweaked that a little, and then wrote the rest in a more literate style. I'm not really sure what you mean by 'breaking point', but I probably wouldn't tell you what I'm planning anyway (what can I say, the genre is suspense!). Kekkaishi is great, and the pairing there is very obvious in that. To avoid infuriating AnE fans, I'm trying to keep away from the pairings._

_**Chapter 10**_

_**KaeBird13 – **__It's not overly impolite, I just haven't really honoured your demand that quickly – sorry! Thank you for the very kind words, and indeed the kind offer - I'll be sure to keep it in mind! I hope this chapter is what you wanted! Thank you for reading! (Part of the reason why I'm writing this is so that more Rin whumpage is available)_

_**rin-rules – **__…I hope you're not dead? I did leave this a long time!_

_**Khaching – **__Mega-mega cliffie! Thanks for the kind words!_

_**Crystal **__– He __**is**__ the lord of darkness, I guess it's to be expected. Though, he was forced into Rin – maybe he's just making the most of an annoying situation?_

_**Panda Master X – **__Waaaahhhh! Here you gooooo! please be less confused maybe? sorry for dropping that cliffie bomb on you ;)_

_**Hartanna – **__Here is the next chapter – sorry it's so late! Thank you also for your continued support – I keep seeing your username in my review replies _

_**ToscaThorCat - **__:3 I stopped the chapter there – muahahahahh! What's more, I gave you a mediocre chapter next – will my evilness ever end?_

_**Rainboskittenism – **__Please keep reading though! I'll miss you if you stop!_

_**Dowgma - **__:O indeed, hope you enjoyed this one _

_**HipsterL – **__That comment is so cute because of your kitteh picture :3_

_**Thanks for sticking with me! I hope you enjoyed it!**_


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